Luke 20:1–18

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED

20One^ae day as he was teaching^af the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news,^ag the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders,^ah came ²and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”

³He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, ⁴was the baptism of John from heaven or of human origin?”

⁵They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people^a will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”^{b 7}So they answered that they did not know its origin.

⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD OWNER

⁹Now^c he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,^d leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. ¹⁰At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹He sent yet another servant, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.

¹³“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved^e son. Perhaps^C they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’^{f 15}So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶He will come and kill^g those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”

But when they heard this they said, “That must never happen!”^h

¹⁷But he looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:^Ai

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone?^Bj

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”^k