The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approachedh the first and* said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered and* said, ‘I do not want to!’ But later he changed his mind and* went. 30 And he approached the secondi and* said the same thing. So he answered and* said, ‘I will, sir,’ and he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of hisj father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when* you saw it,* you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a man—a master of a house—who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. 34 And when the season of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35 And the tenant farmers seized his slaves, one of whom they beat, and one of whom they killed, and one of whom they stoned. 36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first ones, and they did the same thing to them. 37 So finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when* the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!’ 39 And they seized him and* threw him* out of the vineyard and killed him.* 40 Now when the master of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those tenant farmers?” 41 They said to him, “He will destroy those evil men completely and lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruits in their season.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

this has become ⌊the cornerstone⌋.k

This came about from the Lord,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?l

43 For this reason, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a peoplem who produce its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!” 45 And when* the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them, 46 and although they* wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they looked upon him as a prophet.

The Parable of the Wedding Celebration

22 And continuing, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son. 3 And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebration!” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and* went away—this one to his own field, that one to his business. 6 And the others, seizing his slaves, mistreated them* and killed them.* 7 And the king was angry and sent his troops and* destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the roads and* gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled ⌊with dinner guests⌋.a 11 But when* the king came in to see the ⌊dinner guests⌋,b he saw a man there not dressed in wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But ⌊he could say nothing⌋.c 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up ⌊hand and foot⌋d and* throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called but few are chosen.”