Luke 20:9-19
Expanded Bible
The Story of the Evil Farmers(A)
9 Then Jesus ·told [L began/proceeded to tell] the people this ·story [parable]: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some [C tenant] farmers [C Jesus builds on Is. 5:1–7; the owner represents God; the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders]. Then he ·went away [took a journey] for a long time. 10 ·When it was time for the grapes to be picked [L At the (harvest) time], he sent a ·servant [slave] to the farmers to get some of the grapes [C the portion of the harvest to pay the rent]. But they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Then he sent another ·servant [slave]. They beat him also, and ·showed no respect for [humiliated; dishonored] him, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 So the man sent a third. The farmers wounded him and threw him out [C the servants represent the prophets God sent to Israel]. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love [C representing Jesus; see 3:22]. ·Maybe [or Probably; or Surely] they will respect him.’ 14 But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This ·son will inherit the vineyard [L is the heir]. Let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the ·owner [lord] of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and ·kill [destroy] those farmers and will give the vineyard to ·other farmers [L others; C referring to the sinners who were responding to Jesus’ call for repentance, and eventually to the Gentiles who would be saved].”
When the people heard this ·story [parable], they said, “·Let this never happen [T God forbid; L May it not happen]!”
17 But Jesus looked [directly; intently] at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture passage mean:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the ·cornerstone [or capstone; or keystone; L head of the corner]’? [C This is the most important stone in the building; Jesus is the rejected stone; Ps. 118:22.]
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken [Is. 8:14], and the person on whom it falls, that person will be crushed [cf. Dan. 2:34]!”
19 The ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the ·leading [T chief] priests ·wanted [tried/sought] to ·arrest [seize; L lay hands on] Jesus at once, because they knew the ·story [parable] was ·about [told against] them. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
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Matthew 21:33-46
Expanded Bible
The Story of the Evil Farmers(A)
33 “Listen to ·this story [another parable]: There was a ·man who owned [landowner who planted] a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a ·hole [vat; pit] for a winepress and built a tower [C to protect against thieves; see Is. 5:1–7 for the background to this parable]. Then he leased the land to some [C tenant] farmers and left for a trip [C the owner represents God, the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders]. 34 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent his ·servants [slaves] to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 35 But the farmers grabbed the ·servants [slaves], beat one, killed another, and then ·killed a third servant with stones [L stoned a third]. 36 So the man sent some other ·servants [slaves] to the farmers, even more than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they had done before [C the servants represent the prophets God sent to Israel]. 37 ·So [L Finally; Last of all] the man sent his son to the farmers [C the son represents Jesus]. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him, and we will get his inheritance!’ 39 Then the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So what will the ·owner [lord] of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41 ·The priests and leaders [L They] said, “He will ·surely kill those evil men [bring those wretches/evil men to a wretched/evil end]. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time [C referring to the sinners who were responding to Jesus’ call for repentance, and eventually to the Gentiles who would be saved].”
42 Jesus said to them, “·Surely you have read [L Haven’t you ever read…?] this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone [capstone; keystone; L head of the corner; C the meaning is uncertain, but clearly refers to the most important stone in the building; Jesus is the rejected stone].
The Lord did this,
and it is ·wonderful [amazing; marvelous] ·to us [for us to see; L in our eyes; Ps. 118:22–23].’
43 “·So [For this reason; Therefore] I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to ·people [a nation] who ·do the things God wants in his kingdom [L will produce its fruit]. 44 The person who ·falls on [stumbles over] this stone will be ·broken [shattered], and on whomever that stone falls, that person will be crushed.”[a]
45 When the ·leading [T chief] priests and the Pharisees heard these ·stories [parables], they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46 They ·wanted [were seeking/trying] to arrest him, but they were afraid of the ·people [crowds], because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
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- Matthew 21:44 The … crushed. Some Greek copies do not have verse 44.
Mark 12:1-12
Expanded Bible
The Story of the Evil Farmers(A)
12 [Then] Jesus began ·to use stories to teach the people [L to speak to them in parables; see 3:23]. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a ·hole [vat; pit] for a winepress and built a tower [C to protect against thieves; see Is. 5:1–7 for the background to this parable]. Then he leased the land to some [C tenant] farmers and left for a trip [C the owner represents God, the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders]. 2 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a ·servant [slave] to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed ·the servant [L him] and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then the man sent another ·servant [slave]. They ·hit [beat] him on the head and ·showed no respect for [humiliated; dishonored] him. 5 So the man sent another, whom they killed. The man sent many others; the farmers beat some of them and killed others [C the servants represent the prophets God sent to Israel].
6 “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved [C representing Jesus; see 1:11; 9:7]. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “So what will the ·owner [lord] of the vineyard do? He will come and ·kill [destroy] those farmers and will give the vineyard to ·other farmers [L others; C referring to the sinners who were responding to Jesus’ call for repentance, and eventually to the Gentiles who would be saved]. 10 ·Surely you have read [L Have you never read…?] this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the ·cornerstone [capstone; keystone; L head of the corner; C the meaning is uncertain, but clearly refers to the most important stone in the building; Jesus is the rejected stone].
11 The Lord did this,
and it is ·wonderful [amazing; marvelous] ·to us [for us to see; L in our eyes; Ps. 118:22–23].’”
12 The Jewish leaders knew that the ·story [parable] was about them. So they ·wanted to find a way [were seeking/trying] to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.
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