² At harvest time he sent^(A) a slave^(B) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^(C) of the vineyard from the farmers. ³ But they took him, beat^(D) him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{(E) 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.