423 : The Labourers In The Vineyard
"FOR the kingdom of heaven is like an householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.
When he had agreed with his labourers on a silver piece a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
"He went out about nine o'clock and saw others standing idle in the market place; and said to them,
'Go to my vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.'
And they went their way. He went out about noon and again at mid-afternoon, and did likewise.
And near the end of the day he went out, and found others standing idle, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'Go to my vineyard, too, and whatever is right, you will receive.'
"So when evening came, the lord of the vineyards said to his steward,
'Call the labourers and give them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'
"And when those came who were hired near the end of the day, each one received a silver piece.
So when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more;
but they likewise each received a silver piece.
"When they had received it, they murmured against the man of the house, saying,
'These last have worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.'
But he answered one of them, and said, 'Friend, I do you no wrong.
Did you not agree with me on a silver piece? Take what is yours and go your way.
I will give to the last the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with what is mine?
Is your eye greedy, because I am generous?' "So the last shall be first, and the first last."
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