3 About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing.
4 So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’
5 So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock. Both times he hired people to work in his vineyard.
6 About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’
7 They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the workers I hired first.’
9 “The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker received one silver coin.