“Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” Matthew 20:15
A householder who goes out again and again, workers hired at every hour, the same penny for all, a complaint, and a gentle answer. Walk the vineyard, match the hours, and see how good He is.
After Peter asked what the disciples would receive, Jesus told a parable. A householder went out early to hire workers for his vineyard and agreed to pay them a penny for the day. He went out again at the third, sixth and ninth hours, and even at the eleventh hour, when he found people standing idle because no one had hired them.
At evening he paid everyone, starting with the last, and each received a penny. The first workers complained that the last had worked only one hour. He answered, “Friend, I do thee no wrong … Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
Who’s who
The householder: the lord of the vineyard
The first workers: hired at dawn
The last workers: hired at the eleventh hour
Where and when
A village marketplace and a vineyard, from morning to evening.
Eight stops from dawn to dusk in the vineyard. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
Part 2 of 7
The parable, plainly
Four scenes: dawn, the eleventh hour, the pay, and the gate. Look for the goodness of the Lord of the vineyard in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Matthew 20:1 “a man that is an Meaning: the owner of a house and land.”
Matthew 20:2 “for a Meaning: a silver coin, a day’s wage here. a day”
Matthew 20:8 “give them their Meaning: wages, pay.”
Matthew 20:11 “they Meaning: grumbled, complained.”
Matthew 20:12 “these last have Meaning: worked. but one hour”
Part 3 of 7
Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from prophets. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The sunrise, the vineyard, the penny, the marketplace, the eleventh hour, the heat, the eye, the open hand and His goodness. Matthew 20:1–16
Part 4 of 7
Where are you in the vineyard?
Workers in this vineyard had worked all day, were still waiting, came late, or felt it wasn’t fair. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Hour by hour
The householder went out again and again. Tap an hour on the left, then find what happened at that hour on the right.
“Go ye also into the vineyard.” Matthew 20:4
Part 5 of 7
Their world, their words
A little background helps us see why Jesus told this parable. Outside sources are labeled.
Scripture
Peter’s question
Just before this parable, Peter asked, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”2
Jesus answered with a story.
Apostle · Talmage
In tender mercy
Elder Talmage: “In tender mercy the Lord refrained from directly rebuking His impulsive servant for undue concern as to the wage to be expected.”4
He taught Peter gently.
Apostle · Holland
A day of work
Elder Holland describes the householder going back about 9 in the morning, at noon and about 3 in the afternoon, “hiring more workers as the urgency of the harvest” grew.3
The harvest needed every hand.
Apostle · Holland
Not about wages
Elder Holland: “This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats.”3
It is about God’s goodness.
Word study · Greek
dénarion δηνάριον · “penny” (Matthew 20:2)
Bible Hub: “a denarius,” a Roman silver coin, translated “penny” in the King James Version.5Outside · lexicon
In this parable it was the wage agreed for a full day’s work, and every worker received it.1
What the text does not say
Jesus does not say what each hour stands for, or who the first and last workers are. He ends with a promise and a warning: “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”1
Part 6 of 7
Look to Him
Jesus taught that His Father is good, and generous, and keeps looking for each of us.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning.”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” April 20123
“It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace.”
“The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours—real or imagined—fall away in the abundance of the final reward.”
The Laborers in the Vineyard, ready to print $3.99
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
The Laborers in the Vineyard is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for May 3–9, 2027 (Matthew 19–20; Mark 10; Luke 18).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Jesus told this parable; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
