The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household^(A) to the land^(B) I will show you.^(C)

⁵ Now if you obey me fully^(A) and keep my covenant,^(B) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.^(C) Although the whole earth^(D) is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests^(E) and a holy nation.’^(F) These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders^(G) of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.^{(H) 8} The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”^(I) So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

⁴ So all the elders^(A) of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.^{(B) 5} They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king^(C) to lead^[a](D) us, such as all the other nations^(E) have.”

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king^(F) to lead us,” this displeased^(G) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen^(H) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(I) but they have rejected me as their king.^(J)

¹⁹ But the people refused^(A) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want^(B) a king^(C) over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations,^(D) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated^(E) it before the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “Listen^(F) to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

The Song of the Vineyard

³⁵ This is what the Lord says,

³⁷ This is what the Lord says:

³⁸ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt^(V) for me from the Tower of Hananel^(W) to the Corner Gate.^{(X) 39} The measuring line^(Y) will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰ The whole valley^(Z) where dead bodies^(AA) and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley^(AB) on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,^(AC) will be holy^(AD) to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a](A) and on this rock I will build my church,^(B) and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys^(C) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”^(D)

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’^(A)

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors^(B) and the prostitutes^(C) are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,^(D) and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors^(E) and the prostitutes^(F) did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent^(G) and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants^(H)

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

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(M) 36} Then he sent other servants^(N) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last 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.^(O) Come, let’s kill him^(P) and take his inheritance.’^{(Q) 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,”^(R) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^(S) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

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

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^(U) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[b](V)

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them.