"For the kingdom of heaven is like
a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire men to work in his
vineyard. He agreed to pay them a
denarius for the day and sent them into
his vineyard.

"About the third hour he went out
and saw others standing in the
marketplace doing nothing. He told them,
`You also go and work in my vineyard, and
I will pay you whatever is right.' So
they went.

"He went out again about the sixth
hour and the ninth hour and did the same
thing. About the eleventh hour he went
out and found still others standing
around. He asked them
Why have you been standing here
all day long doing nothing?'
"`Because no one has hired us,' they
answered. "He said to them,`You also go
and work in my vineyard.'

"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.'

"The workers who were hired about
the eleventh hour came and each received
a denarius. So when those came who were
hired first, they expected to receive
more. But each one of them also received
a denarius. When they received it, they
began to grumble against the landowner.

`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 of the work and the heat of the
day.'

"But he answered one of them,
`Friend, I am not being unfair to you.
Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?
Take your pay and go. I want to give
the man who was hired last the same as I
gave you. Don't I have the right to do
what I want with my own money? Or are
you envious because I am generous?
"So the last will be first, and the first will
be last." (Matthew 20:1-16)