Matthew 21:33–46

The Parable of the Tenants

^33q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^ra vineyard ^sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^tleased it to tenants, and ^uwent into another country. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants³ to the tenants ^tto get his fruit. ^35vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^wstoned another. ^36xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^y‘This is the heir. Come, ^zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹And they took him and ^athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, ^c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

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

^f“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;⁴

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^gwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^hproducing its fruits. ⁴⁴And ⁱthe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”⁵

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And ^lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ⁿa prophet.