Matthew 19:16-20

New American Standard Bible

The Rich Young Ruler

^16 (A)And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain ^(B)eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but ^(C)if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “^(D)You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; ^19 (E)Honor your father and mother; and ^(F)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man *said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be ^[a]complete, go and ^(G)sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have ^(H)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, ^(I)it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ And again I say to you, ^(J)it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶ And looking at them, Jesus said to them, “^(K)With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

²⁷ Then Peter responded and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the ^[b]regeneration when ^(L)the Son of Man will sit on ^[c]His glorious throne, ^(M)you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And ^(N)everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ^[d]or children or farms on account of My name, will receive ^[e]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ^30 (O)But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For ^(P)the kingdom of heaven is like ^[f]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^(Q)vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^[g]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the ^[h]third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the ^[i]sixth and the ninth hour, and did ^[j]the same thing. ⁶ And about the ^[k]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ ⁷ They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸ “Now when ^(R)evening came, the ^[l]owner of the vineyard *said to his ^(S)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^[m]denarius. ¹⁰ And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ^[n]but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the ^(T)scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^(U)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your ^(V)eye ^[o]envious because I am ^[p]generous?’ ¹⁶ So ^(W)the last shall be first, and the first, last.”