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Contemporary English Version

Matthew 20:6

Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Aged;   Contracts;   Employee;   Gospel;   Hours;   Idleness;   Jesus, the Christ;   Jesus Continued;   Kingdom of Heaven;   Labor;   Penny;   Reward;   Servant;   Vineyard;   Wages;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Hour;   The Topic Concordance - Kingdom of God;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Day;   Parables;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Hours;   Market;   Parable;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Day;   Grace;   Grapes;   Kingdom of god;   Parables;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Christ, Christology;   Gospel;   Grace;   King, Christ as;   Reward;   Wages;   Work;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hutchinsonians;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Hireling;   Wages;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Drachma;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Election;   Grace;   Idle;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Vine;   Wages;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Mary;   Text of the New Testament;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Almsgiving ;   Celibacy (2);   Day;   Discourse;   Hour;   Justice (2);   Labour (2);   Matthew, Gospel According to;   Merit;   Money (2);   Paradox;   Prize;   Samaritan, the Good ;   Sea of Galilee;   Selfishness;   Steward, Stewardship;   Time;   Unity (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Hireling, Hired Servant;   37 Slow Slothful Idle;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Hireling;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   Twelve Apostles, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Day;   Idle;   Justice;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Parable;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then about five
King James Version (1611)
And about the eleuenth houre, he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith vnto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
King James Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
English Standard Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?'
New American Standard Bible
"And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
New Century Version
About five o'clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?'
Amplified Bible
"And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he went about the eleuenth houre, and found other standing idle, & sayd vnto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
Legacy Standard Bible
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
Berean Standard Bible
About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' he asked.
Complete Jewish Bible
About an hour before sundown, he went out, found still others standing around, and asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day, doing nothing?"
Darby Translation
But about the eleventh [hour], having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Easy-to-Read Version
About five o'clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw some other people standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?'
George Lamsa Translation
And towards the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and he said to them, Why do you stand all day idle?
Good News Translation
It was nearly five o'clock when he went to the marketplace and saw some other men still standing there. ‘Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?' he asked them.
Lexham English Bible
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing there and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?'
Literal Translation
And going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing idle, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?
American Standard Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Bible in Basic English
And about the eleventh hour he went out and saw others doing nothing; and he says to them, Why are you here all the day doing nothing?
Hebrew Names Version
About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
International Standard Version
About five o'clockthe eleventh hour
">[fn] he went out and found some others standing around. He said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day long without work?'
Etheridge Translation
And about eleven hours he went out, and found others who were standing and unemployed; and he said to them, Why are you standing all the day unemployed ?
Murdock Translation
And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others who were standing and idle; and he said to them: Why stand ye all the day, and are idle?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And about the eleuenth houre, he wet out, and founde other standyng idle, and saide vnto them: why stande ye here all the day idle?
English Revised Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
World English Bible
About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing idle and saith to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Weymouth's New Testament
And going out about five o'clock he found others loitering, and he asked them, "`Why have you been standing here all day long, doing nothing?'
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But aboute the elleuenthe our he wente out, and foond other stondynge; and he seide to hem, What stonden ye idel here al dai?
Update Bible Version
And about the eleventh [hour] he went out, and found others standing; and he says to them, Why do you stand here all the day idle?
Webster's Bible Translation
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
New English Translation
And 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?'
New King James Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, [fn] and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'
New Living Translation
"At five o'clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven't you been working today?'
New Life Bible
About five o'clock he went out and still found others doing nothing. He asked them, ‘Why do you stand here all day and do nothing?'
New Revised Standard
And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?'
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, about the eleventh, going forth, he found others, standing, and saith unto them - Why, here, stand ye, all the day, unemployed?
Douay-Rheims Bible
But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle?
Revised Standard Version
And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he went out aboute the eleventhe houre and founde other stondynge ydell and sayde vnto them: Why stonde ye here all the daye ydell?
Young's Literal Translation
And about the eleventh hour, having gone forth, he found others standing idle, and saith to them, Why here have ye stood all the day idle?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And aboute the eleuenth houre he wete out, and founde other stodynge ydle, and sayde vnto them: Why stonde ye here all the daye ydle?
Mace New Testament (1729)
at last, about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said to them, why do you stand idling thus all day long?
THE MESSAGE
A Story About Workers "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went. "He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'
Simplified Cowboy Version
"At about five he rode by the saloon and found some cowboys just sittin' there playin' cards and drinkin' whiskey. The rancher asked them, 'Why have y'all just been sittin' around here not doin' anything all day long?'

Contextual Overview

1 As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said: Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. 2 After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day's work, he sent them off to his vineyard. 3 About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. 4 He said he would pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. 5 So they went. At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do. 6 Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" 7 "Because no one has hired us," they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard. 8 That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. 9 When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day's pay. 10 The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the eleventh: Ecclesiastes 9:10, Luke 23:40-43, John 9:4

Why: Proverbs 19:15, Ezekiel 16:49, Acts 17:21, Hebrews 6:12

Reciprocal: Joshua 18:3 - How long are Matthew 20:3 - standing Matthew 20:9 - they received 2 Peter 1:8 - barren

Cross-References

Genesis 3:3
except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die."
Genesis 20:6
God spoke to Abimelech in another dream and said: I know you are innocent. That's why I kept you from sleeping with Sarah and doing anything wrong.
Genesis 20:7
Her husband is a prophet. Let her go back to him, and his prayers will save you from death. But if you don't return her, you and all your people will die.
Genesis 26:11
Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
Genesis 31:7
and that he keeps cheating me by changing my wages time after time. But God has protected me.
Genesis 35:5
While Jacob and his family were traveling through Canaan, God terrified the people in the towns so much that no one dared bother them.
Genesis 39:9
No one in my master's house is more important than I am. The only thing he hasn't given me is you, and that's because you are his wife. I won't sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this."
Exodus 34:24
I will force the nations out of your land and enlarge your borders. Then no one will try to take your property when you come to worship me these three times each year.
1 Samuel 25:26
but please take this gift of food that I've brought and share it with your followers. The Lord has kept you from taking revenge and from killing innocent people. But I hope your enemies and anyone else who wants to harm you will end up like Nabal. I swear this by the living Lord and by your life.
1 Samuel 25:34
If you hadn't come to meet me so quickly, every man and boy in Nabal's family and in his servants' families would have been killed by morning. I swear by the living Lord God of Israel who protected you that this is the truth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And about the eleventh hour he went out,.... About five o'clock in the afternoon. The Persic version reads it, "the twelfth hour", which was six o'clock in the afternoon, the last hour of the day. The Jews divided their day into twelve hours,

John 11:9 and these twelve hours into four parts; Nehemiah 9:3 each part containing three hours, to which division there is a manifest respect in this parable. These different seasons of the husbandman's going out to hire labourers, may have regard either to the several periods of time, and ages of the world, as before the law, under the law, the times of the Messiah, and the last days; or the various dispensations of the Gospel, first by Christ, and John the Baptist to the Jews, then by the apostles to the same in their first mission, afterwards when their commission was renewed, first to the Jews in Judea, and then to the same among the nations of the world, and last of all to the Gentiles; or to the several stages of human life, and may regard Christ's call of persons in childhood, youth, manhood, and old age; which last may be signified by the eleventh hour, as also the Gentiles, and the remainder of God's elect in the last day:

and found others standing idle; in the same place and position as before: for the state and condition of God's elect, by nature, as it is the same with others, it is the same with them all. The word "idle" is omitted here by the Vulgate Latin, the Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but is retained in the Syriac and Persic versions; and stands in the Greek copies:

and saith unto them, why stand ye here all the day idle? for being about the eleventh hour, the day was far spent, it was almost gone, a small portion of it remained, but one hour, as appears from

Matthew 20:12.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The eleventh hour - About five o’clock in the afternoon, or when there was but one working hour of the day left.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 20:6. EleventhFive o'clock in the evening, when there was only one hour before the end of the Jewish day, which, in matters of labour, closed at six.


 
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