20:1 「因為天國好像家主清早去雇人進他的葡萄園做工，
20:2 和工人講定一天一錢銀子，就打發他們進葡萄園去。
20:3 約在巳初出去，看見市上還有閒站的人，
20:4 就對他們說：『你們也進葡萄園去，所當給的，我必給你們。』他們也進去了。
20:5 約在午正和申初又出去，也是這樣行。
20:6 約在酉初出去，看見還有人站在那裡，就問他們說：『你們為甚麼整天在這裡閒站呢？』
20:7 他們說：『因為沒有人雇我們。』他說：『你們也進葡萄園去。』
20:8 到了晚上，園主對管事的說：『叫工人都來，給他們工錢，從後來的起，到先來的為止。』
20:9 約在酉初雇的人來了，各人得了一錢銀子。
20:10 及至那先雇的來了，他們以為必要多得；誰知也是各得一錢。
20:11 他們得了，就埋怨家主說：
20:12 『我們整天勞苦受熱，那後來的只做了一小時，你竟叫他們和我們一樣嗎？』
20:13 家主回答其中的一人說：『朋友，我不虧負你，你與我講定的不是一錢銀子嗎？
20:14 拿你的走吧！我給那後來的和給你一樣，這是我願意的。
20:15 我的東西難道不可隨我的意思用嗎？因為我作好人，你就紅了眼嗎？』
20:16 這樣，那在後的，將要在前；在前的，將要在後了。（有古卷加：因為被召的人多，選上的人少。）」
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
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葡萄園的比喻讓人覺得園主不夠「公平」，因為一般人的感受是：多勞多得，少勞少的。所以一早去的人會向園主抗議：「我們整天勞苦受熱，那後來的只做了一小時，你竟叫他們和我們一樣嗎？」
但是園主回答得更有意思：「朋友，我不虧負你，你與我講定的不是一錢銀子嗎？拿你的走吧！我給那後來的和給你一樣，這是我願意的。我的東西難道不可隨我的意思用嗎？因為我作好人，你就紅了眼嗎？」
在這裡可以做很多的解釋和應用，但是我們若從領受新生命獲得上帝永恆的獎賞來看，是沒有時間先後的問題，重要的是我們有沒有應答上帝的呼召呢？有回應加入上帝國(或天國)的行列的，才可以領受到福分！
而在這段比喻有一個警語：「這樣，那在後的，將要在前；在前的，將要在後了。」
也因此，在救恩上不要比較與妒忌，要為弟兄姊妹的成長來歸榮耀給上帝，因為上帝是成全人的上帝，不是限制人的上帝，更何況我們的生命狀況是聖靈工作的結果，不完全是自己的努力！
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