The Parable of the Tenants^(A)

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

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(F) 36} Then he sent other servants^(G) 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.^(H) Come, let’s kill him^(I) and take his inheritance.’^{(J) 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,”^(K) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^(L) 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^(N) 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](O)

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.^(P)

⁴¹ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it^{(A) 42} and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.^{(B) 44} They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.^(C) They will not leave one stone on another,^(D) because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming^(E) to you.”

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,^(A)

⁸ and,

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.^(E)

³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.^{(A) 33} As it is written:

²³ but we preach Christ crucified:^(A) a stumbling block^(B) to Jews and foolishness^(C) to Gentiles,

²⁰ built^(A) on the foundation^(B) of the apostles and prophets,^(C) with Christ Jesus himself^(D) as the chief cornerstone.^(E)