³ Now Israel^(A) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(B) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(C) and he made an ornate^[a] robe^(D) for him.^{(E) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(F) and could not speak a kind word to him.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(A) 13} and Israel^(B) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(C) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(A)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(B)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(C)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(D) and say that a ferocious animal^(E) devoured him.^(F) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(G)

²¹ When Reuben^(H) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(I) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(J) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.^(K)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(L) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(M) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(N) coming from Gilead.^(O) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(P) and myrrh,^(Q) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(R)

²⁶ Judah^(S) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(T) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(U) our own flesh and blood.^(V)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(W) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(X) and sold^(Y) him for twenty shekels^[a] of silver^(Z) to the Ishmaelites,^(AA) who took him to Egypt.^(AB)

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.

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.^(A)