The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

³³ “Listen^(A) to another parable:^(B) There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower.^(C) He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.^{(D) 34} When the grape harvest^[a] drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. ³⁵ But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(E) 36} Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’^{(F) 39} So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ “He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.”^[b](G)

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

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its^[e] fruit. [⁴⁴ Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;^(I) but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!]”^[f]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables,^(J) they knew He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ Although they were looking for a way to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they^[g] regarded Him as a prophet.^(K)

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12 Then^(A) He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard,^(B) put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ² At harvest time he sent^(C) a slave^(D) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^(E) of the vineyard from the farmers. ³ But they took him, beat^(F) him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{(G) 4} Again he sent another slave to them, and they^[a] hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.^{[b] 5} Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.

⁶ “He still had one to send, a beloved^(H) son. Finally^(I) he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But those tenant farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore, what will the owner^[c](J) of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this Scripture:^(K)

¹² Because they knew He had said this parable against them, they were looking for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left Him and went away.