1 He rite hoki te rangatiratanga o te rangi ki tetahi rangatira whare, i haere i te atatu ki te korero kaimahi mo tana mara waina.

2 A, no ka oti te whakarite ki nga kaimahi kia kotahi ra he pene, tonoa ana ratou e ia ki tana mara waina.

3 A ka haere atu ia i te toru o nga haora, ka kite i etahi atu e tu mangere ana i te kainga hokohoko,

4 Ka mea ki a ratou, Haere hoki koutou ki te mara waina, a ka hoatu e ahau ki a koutou te mea e tika ana. Na haere ana ratou.

5 I haere ano ia i te ono, i te iwa o nga haora, a pera ana ano.

6 I te tekau ma tahi o nga haora ka haere atu ano ia, ka kite i etahi atu e tu ana, ka mea ki a ratou, He aha ta koutou e tu mangere i konei i te ra roa nei?

7 Ka mea ratou ki a ia, No te mea ra kahore he tangata i korero ki a matou ki te mahi. Ka mea ia ki a ratou, Haere ano koutou ki te mara waina, ko te mea tika koia tera e whiwhi ai koutou.

8 A, no te ahiahi ka mea te rangatira o te mara waina ki tana kaiwhakahauhau, Karangatia nga kaimahi, utua hoki ratou, hei o muri timata ai puta noa ki o mua.

9 A, no te taenga mai o te hunga i korerotia i te tekau ma tahi o nga haora, kotahi te pene i riro i tetahi, i tetahi.

10 Ka tae ano o mua, hua noa ratou tera atu te mea e riro i a ratou; heoi katahi ano te pene i riro i a ratou.

11 A, no ka riro i a ratou, ka amuamu ki taua rangatira whare,

12 Ka mea, Kotahi te haora i mahi ai enei o muri, a ka oti ratou te whakarite ki a matou, ki te hunga i pehia nei e te taimaha e te tikakatanga o te ra.

13 A ka whakahoki ia, ka mea ki tetahi o ratou, E hoa, kahore aku he ki a koe: kihai koe i whakarite ki ahau me pene?

14 Tangohia tau, haere: e pai ana ahau kia rite ki tau te mea e hoatu ki tenei o muri.

15 Ehara ianei i te tika kia meatia e ahau taku e pai ai ki aku mea? He kino oti tou kanohi no te mea he pai ahau?

16 Heoi, ko o muri e meinga ki mua, ko o mua ki muri: he tokomaha hoki e karangatia, he ruarua ia e whiriwhiria.

1 For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

2 And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 And having gone out about {the} third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle;

4 and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way.

5 Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise.

6 But about the eleventh {hour}, having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

7 They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard {and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive}.

8 But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay {them} their wages, beginning from the last even to the first.

9 And when they {who came to work} about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius.

10 And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they received also themselves each a denarius.

11 And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house,

12 saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.

13 But he answering said to one of them, {My} friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?

14 Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee:

15 is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because *I* am good?

16 Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.