²⁷And they come again to Jerusalem, and in the temple, as he is walking, there come unto him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, ²⁸and they say to him, ‘By what authority dost thou these things? and who gave thee this authority that these things thou mayest do?’ ²⁹And Jesus answering said to them, ‘I will question you—I also—one word; and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things; ³⁰the baptism of John—from heaven was it? or from men? answer me.’ ³¹And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, ‘If we may say, From heaven, he will say, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? ³²But if we may say, From men,’—they were fearing the people, for all were holding John that he was indeed a prophet; ³³and answering they say to Jesus, ‘We have not known;’ and Jesus answering saith to them, ‘Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.’

Chapter 12

¹And he began to speak to them in similes: ‘A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around, and digged an under-wine-vat, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad; ²and he sent unto the husbandmen at the due time a servant, that from the husbandmen he may receive from the fruit of the vineyard, ³and they, having taken him, did severely beat him, and did send him away empty.

⁴‘And again he sent unto them another servant, and at that one having cast stones, they wounded him in the head, and sent away—dishonoured.

⁵‘And again he sent another, and that one they killed; and many others, some beating, and some killing.

⁶‘Having yet therefore one son—his beloved—he sent also him unto them last, saying—They will reverence my son; ⁷and those husbandmen said among themselves—This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance; ⁸and having taken him, they did kill, and cast him forth without the vineyard.

⁹‘What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰And this Writing did ye not read: A stone that the builders rejected, it did become the head of a corner: ¹¹from the Lord was this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.’ ¹²And they were seeking to lay hold on him, and they feared the multitude, for they knew that against them he spake the simile, and having left him, they went away.

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