1. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
2. And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
3. When it was about nine o’clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work.
4. He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’
5. So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, he did the same thing.
6. And about five o’clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’
7. They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’
8. When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay starting with the last hired until the first.’