Matthew · 34 verses
Matthew 20
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The last workers are paid first, and the men who have borne the whole day receive exactly what the newcomers do.
The vineyard and the denariusvv. 1–16
A landowner hires workers at dawn, then keeps returning to the marketplace: at the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and finally the eleventh. Evening payment begins with the men who have worked for an hour, a splendidly provocative arrangement, and each receives a denarius. The first workers had evidently done their arithmetic before the foreman reached them; they grumble when their own full day produces the same sum. The landowner answers that the agreed payment has been given, and that generosity is not theft.
The road to Jerusalem, and the request for seatsvv. 17–28
As Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, He tells the twelve that the Son of Man will be condemned, mocked, flogged, crucified, and raised on the third day. Immediately afterwards, the mother of Zebedee’s sons kneels and asks for the two best seats in the kingdom. The brothers declare that they can drink the cup Jesus will drink; the ten are indignant, and Jesus turns the whole contest for rank upside down, describing greatness as service and first place as slavery.
The two men beside the roadvv. 29–34
Leaving Jericho, Jesus is followed by a large crowd and hears two blind men calling from beside the road. The crowd attempts to hush them, which only makes them cry out all the louder. Jesus stops, asks what they want, and touches their eyes; at once they receive their sight and follow Him.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Matt 20:1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
Matt 20:2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
Matt 20:3About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
Matt 20:4‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’
Matt 20:5So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
Matt 20:6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
Matt 20:7‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’
Matt 20:8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’
Matt 20:9The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.
Matt 20:10So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.
Matt 20:11On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner.
Matt 20:12‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
Matt 20:13But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius?
Matt 20:14Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.
Matt 20:15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
Matt 20:16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Matt 20:17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said,
Matt 20:18“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death
Matt 20:19and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”
Matt 20:20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.
Matt 20:21“What do you want?” He inquired. She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”
Matt 20:22“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.
Matt 20:23“You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”
Matt 20:24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
Matt 20:25But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.
Matt 20:26It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
Matt 20:27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—
Matt 20:28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Matt 20:29As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.
Matt 20:30And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Matt 20:31The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Matt 20:32Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.
Matt 20:33“Lord,” they answered, “let our eyes be opened.”
Matt 20:34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and at once they received their sight and followed Him.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 435 passages were voted onto 33 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 28Luke 22:27For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.
- 16Matthew 19:30But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’’
- 28Hebrews 9:28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
- 28Titus 2:14He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
- 26Mark 10:43But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
- 16Mark 10:31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
- 26Mark 9:35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
- 281 Peter 3:18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- 16Matthew 22:14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- 261 Peter 5:3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
- 26Mark 10:45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- 28Philippians 2:4–8Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
- 25Luke 22:25–27So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.
- 281 Timothy 2:6who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.
- 26Luke 18:14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- 282 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Onward