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.