Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Tenants
21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.
21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.
21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
21:36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.
21:37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’
21:39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”
21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”
21:45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.
21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet.
Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Tenants
12:1 Then he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey.
12:2 At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his portion of the crop.
12:3 But those tenants seized his slave, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
12:4 So he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously.
12:5 He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed.
12:6 He had one left, his one dear son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
12:7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’
12:8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard.
12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
12:10 Have you not read this scripture:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
12:11 This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12:12 Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So they left him and went away.