Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
- BSB Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.
- NKJV Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
- NASB Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you.
- NLT Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The landowner tells the worker to take his pay and go, for it is his will to give the latecomer the same. The master's generosity is his own to bestow freely.
Overview
The master asserts his right to be generous with the latecomers, giving them the same wage by choice, not obligation. This pictures God's sovereign freedom to dispense grace as he pleases. Salvation comes not as a wage owed to long service but as a gift of the Master's good pleasure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 17:2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
- Luke 15:31And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
- Matt 6:2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
- Ezek 29:18–20Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
- Matt 6:16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- Matt 6:6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
- 2 Kgs 10:30–31And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
- Rom 3:4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
- 2 Kgs 10:16And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
- Luke 16:25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 20:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.