Matthew 20:9

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

So, when those hired about five o’clock in the afternoon came in, each one received the usual pay for one full day’s work. [See note on verse 2].

Cross References

Matthew 20:10

Then when those who were hired first came [to get paid], they expected to receive more money [than those hired later], but each one received the usual pay for one full day’s work also.

Matthew 20:2

When he had agreed with the workers [on wages] for the usual farm laborer’s pay for a day’s work, he [then] sent them to work in his vineyard. [Note: The coin mentioned here would amount to about $9.00, based on the average farm laborer’s hourly wage in 2005. [National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Feb. 2005]. This coin also forms the basis for calculating all other monetary references in the New Testament].

Matthew 20:8

And when evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers [in] and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [one hired, then] to the first.’