^12:2At harvest time he sent a slave⁵ to the tenants to collect from them⁶ his portion of the crop.⁷^12:3But⁸ those tenants⁹ seized his slave,¹⁰ beat him,¹¹ and sent him away empty-handed.¹²^12:4So¹³ he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. ^12:5He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed.

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Footnotes

5 See the note on the word “slave” in . This slave (along with the others) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.
6 Grk “from the tenants,” but this is redundant in English, so the pronoun (“them”) was used in the translation.
7 Grk “from the fruits of the vineyard.”
8 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
9 Grk “But they”; the referent (the tenants, v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 Grk “seizing him, they beat and sent away empty-handed.” The referent of the direct object of “seizing” (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The objects of the verbs “beat” and “sent away” have been supplied in the translation to conform to English style. Greek often omits direct objects when they are clear from the context.
11 The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.
12 The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit—and thus neither was the nation of Israel.
13 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from them. But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant to them, and they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully. Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed.

NLTNew Living Translation

At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed,

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the tenant farmers. And they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent to them another slave, and that one they struck on the head and dishonored. And he sent another, and that one they killed. And he sent many others, some of whom they beat and some of whom they killed.

KJV 1900King James Version

And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

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