Matthew 21:33–43

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33–46pp—Mk 12:1–12; Lk 20:9–19

³³“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted^x a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.^y Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.^{z 34}When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants^a to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{b 36}Then he sent other servants^c to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.^d Come, let’s kill him^e and take his inheritance.’^{f 39}So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”^g they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^h who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

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

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’^h?ⁱ

⁴³“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^j and given to a people who will produce its fruit.