The Parable about the Tenant Farmers^(A)

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. ³⁴ When harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the farmers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and attacked another with stones. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants to them, a greater number than the first, but the tenant farmers^[a] treated them the same way. ³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they told one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ They told him, “He will put those horrible men to a horrible death. Then he will lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it. ⁴⁴ The person who falls over this stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”^[e]

⁴⁵ When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ Although they wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus^[f] to be a prophet.

The Parable about the Tenant Farmers^(A)

⁹ Then he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went abroad for a long time. ¹⁰ At the right time he sent a servant to the farmers in order to get his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him back empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent another servant, and they beat him, too, treated him shamefully, and sent him back empty-handed. ¹² Then he sent a third, and they wounded him and threw him out, too.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I’ll send my son whom I love. Maybe they’ll respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the farmers saw him, they talked it over among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours!’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”

Those who heard him said, “That must never happen!”

¹⁷ But Jesus^[a] looked at them and asked, “What does this text mean:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

¹⁹ When the scribes and the high priests realized that Jesus^[c] had told this parable about them, they wanted to arrest him right then, but they were afraid of the crowd.