Luke 20:9–19

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

^9*Then Jesus told the people this parable: “There was once a man who planted a vineyard, let it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time. ¹⁰When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing. ¹¹So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing. ¹²Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out. ¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!’ ¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?” Jesus asked. ¹⁶“He will come and kill those men, and hand the vineyard over to other tenants.” When the people heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

^17*Jesus looked at them and asked, “What, then, does this scripture mean?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless

turned out to be the most important of all.’

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, it will crush him to dust.”

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹⁹The teachers of the Law and the chief priests tried to arrest Jesus on the spot, because they knew that he had told this parable against them; but they were afraid of the people.