Matthew 20 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

"Because the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard."

He agreed with the workers on the standard daily wage — one denarius — and sent them into his vineyard.

He went out again around nine in the morning and saw others standing around in the marketplace with nothing to do.

He told them, 'You go work in my vineyard too, and I'll pay you whatever is fair.'

So they went. He went out again around noon and again around three in the afternoon and did the same thing.

Then around five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?'

'Because no one hired us,' they answered. He said to them, 'You go into my vineyard too.'

When evening came, the vineyard owner told his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and ending with the first.'

The workers hired around five in the afternoon came forward and each received a full denarius.

So when the first ones hired came up, they expected to get more. But each of them also received one denarius.

When they got it, they started grumbling at the landowner.

'These guys who were hired last only worked one hour,' they said, 'and you've made them equal to us — and we're the ones who did the heavy lifting through the worst heat of the day.'

But the landowner replied to one of them, 'Friend, I'm not treating you unfairly. Didn't you agree to work for one denarius?'

Take your pay and go. I've chosen to give this last worker the same as you.

Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you looking at me with resentment because I'm generous?

So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

As Jesus was heading up to Jerusalem, he pulled the twelve disciples aside privately and told them on the way,

"Look — we're going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They'll condemn him to death,"

"and then hand him over to the non-Jewish authorities to be mocked, whipped, and executed on a stake. But on the third day, he will be raised back to life."

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt down in front of him to ask him for something.

"What do you want?" Jesus asked her. She said, "Promise that in your kingdom, one of my two sons will sit at your right hand and the other at your left."

Jesus answered, "You have no idea what you're asking for. Can you drink the cup that I'm about to drink?" They said, "We can."

Jesus told them, "You will drink my cup. But sitting at my right or left — that's not mine to give. Those places belong to the ones my Father has already prepared them for."

When the other ten heard about this, they were furious with the two brothers.

Jesus called them together and said, "You know how the rulers of the nations lord it over their people, and their powerful ones push them around."

"That's not how it's going to work with you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant,"

"and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave."

"That's exactly what the Son of Man did — he didn't come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom to set many people free."

As they were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed him.

Two blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David — have mercy on us!"

The crowd told them to shut up. But they just shouted louder: "Lord, Son of David — have mercy on us!"

Jesus stopped, called out to them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Lord," they said, "we want to see."

His heart broke for them. Jesus touched their eyes, and instantly they could see — and they followed him.