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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Matthew 20 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/matthew/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/matthew/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Matthew 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/19.htm" title="Matthew 19">◄</a> Matthew 20 <a href="../matthew/21.htm" title="Matthew 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Workers in a Vineyard</h3><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.1" class="v40_20_1">1</span>As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_1">Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. </span><span class="v40_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.2" class="v40_20_2">2</span>After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day's work, he sent them off to his vineyard.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.3" class="v40_20_3">3</span>About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. </span><span class="v40_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.4" class="v40_20_4">4</span>He promised to pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. </span><span class="v40_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.5" class="v40_20_5">5</span>So they went.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_5">At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.6" class="v40_20_6">6</span>Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?”</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.7" class="v40_20_7">7</span>“Because no one has hired us,” they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.8" class="v40_20_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. </span><span class="v40_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.9" class="v40_20_9">9</span>When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day's pay.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.10" class="v40_20_10">10</span>The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, </span><span class="v40_20_11"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.11" class="v40_20_11">11</span>they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. </span><span class="v40_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.12" class="v40_20_12">12</span>They said, “The ones who were hired last worked for only one hour. But you paid them the same that you did us. And we worked in the hot sun all day long!”</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.13" class="v40_20_13">13</span>The owner answered one of them, “Friend, I didn't cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. </span><span class="v40_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.14" class="v40_20_14">14</span>Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? </span><span class="v40_20_15"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.15" class="v40_20_15">15</span>Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.16" class="v40_20_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Jesus then said, “So it is. Everyone who is now last will be first, and everyone who is first will be last.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">Jesus Again Tells about His Death</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="MRK 10:32-34">Mark 10.32-34</ref>; <ref loc="LUK 18:31-34">Luke 18.31-34</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.17" class="v40_20_17">17</span>As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took his twelve disciples aside and told them in private:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.18" class="v40_20_18">18</span>We are now on our way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death, </span><span class="v40_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.19" class="v40_20_19">19</span>and then they will hand him over to foreigners<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.19!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> who will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. But on the third day he will rise from death.</span></p><h3 class="s1">A Mother's Request</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="MRK 10:35-45">Mark 10.35-45</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.20" class="v40_20_20">20</span>The mother of James and John<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.20!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> came to Jesus with her two sons. She knelt down and started begging him to do something for her. </span><span class="v40_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.21" class="v40_20_21">21</span>Jesus asked her what she wanted, and she said, “When you come into your kingdom, please let one of my sons sit at your right side and the other at your left.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.21!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.22" class="v40_20_22">22</span>Jesus answered, “Not one of you knows what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> that I must soon drink from?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_22">James and John said, “Yes, we are!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.23" class="v40_20_23">23</span>Jesus replied, “You certainly will drink from my cup! But it isn't for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. This is for my Father to say.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_24"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.24" class="v40_20_24">24</span>When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. </span><span class="v40_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.25" class="v40_20_25">25</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But Jesus called the disciples together and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_20_25">You know foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. </span><span class="v40_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.26" class="v40_20_26">26</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.26!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But don't act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. </span><span class="v40_20_27"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.27" class="v40_20_27">27</span>And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. </span><span class="v40_20_28"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.28" class="v40_20_28">28</span>The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.28!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> many people.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Jesus Heals Two Blind Men</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="MRK 10:46-52">Mark 10.46-52</ref>; <ref loc="LUK 18:35-43">Luke 18.35-43</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_29"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.29" class="v40_20_29">29</span>Jesus was followed by a large crowd as he and his disciples were leaving Jericho. </span><span class="v40_20_30"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.30" class="v40_20_30">30</span>Two blind men were sitting beside the road. And when they heard that Jesus was coming their way, they shouted, “Lord and Son of David,<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.20.30!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> have pity on us!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_31"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.31" class="v40_20_31">31</span>The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_32"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.32" class="v40_20_32">32</span>When Jesus heard them, he stopped and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_33"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.33" class="v40_20_33">33</span>They answered, “Lord, we want to see!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_20_34"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.20.34" class="v40_20_34">34</span>Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. At once they could see, and they became his followers.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">foreigners: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Romans, who ruled Judea at this time.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.20 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">mother of James and John: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Greek text has “mother of the sons of Zebedee” (see 26.37).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.21 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">right side … left: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The most powerful people in a kingdom sat at the right and left side of the king.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">drink from the cup: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In the Scriptures a cup is sometimes used as a symbol of suffering. To “drink from the cup” is to suffer.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.28 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">rescue: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Greek word often, though not always, means the payment of a price to free a slave or a prisoner.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.30 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Son of David: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 9.27.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. Discover .BIBLE resources for your ministry at <a href="http://www.get.bible/cev">www.get.bible/cev</a></span></p><br /><br /><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /><br /><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../matthew/19.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Matthew 19"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Matthew 19" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../matthew/21.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Matthew 21"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Matthew 21" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/matthew/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>