Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you.
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.
- KJV Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
- 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.
- 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 17:2even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
- Luke 15:31“He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
- Matt 6:2Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
- Ezek 29:18–20Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
- Matt 6:16“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Matt 6:6But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
- 2 Kgs 10:30–31Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to Ahab’s house according to all that was in my heart, your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”
- Rom 3:4May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”
- 2 Kgs 10:16He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So they made him ride in his chariot.
- Luke 16:25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.