40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

41 “He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”a

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.A

This is what the Lord has done

and it is wonderful in our eyes?B,b

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;c but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”C

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,d they knew he was speaking about them. 46 Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.e