Monday, August 3

¹⁶Now someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?” ¹⁷He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸“Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?” ²¹Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²²But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! ²⁴Again I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁵The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible.” ²⁷Then Peter said to him, “Look, we have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” ²⁸Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth: In the age when all things are renewed, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. ²⁹And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ²And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. ³When it was about nine o’clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work. ⁴He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, he did the same thing. ⁶And about five o’clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’ ⁸When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages starting with the last hired until the first.’ ⁹When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay. ¹⁰And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. ¹¹When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner, ¹²saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ ¹³And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you. ¹⁵Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last.”

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way, ¹⁸“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death, ¹⁹and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be raised.”