Matthew 21:33–46

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

³³“Listen ^tto another parable: ^uThere was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. ^vHe leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ^w34When the grape harvest ^xdrew near, he sent his ^•slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. ³⁵But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ^y36Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ ^z39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Therefore, 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 produce at the harvest.” ^ab

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

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone. ^c

This came from the Lord

and is wonderful in our eyes? ^de

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its ^ffruit. [⁴⁴Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; ^gbut on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!]” ^h

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, ⁱthey knew He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶Although they were looking for a way to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they ^jregarded Him as a prophet. ^k