The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’^(A)

²⁹ “He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go. ³¹ Which of the two did his father’s will?”

They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness,^(B) and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

³³ “Listen^(C) to another parable:^(D) There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower.^(E) He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.^{(F) 34} When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. ³⁵ The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(G) 36} Again, he sent other servants, 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 to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’^{(H) 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 fruit at the harvest.”^(I)

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 people producing its fruit. ⁴⁴ Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; ^(K) but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,^(L) they knew he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.^(M)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: ² “The kingdom of heaven^(N) is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.^{(O) 3} He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet,^(P) but they didn’t want to come. ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’^(Q)

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷ The king^[d] was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

⁸ “Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.^{(R) 9} Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’^{(S) 10} So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.^{[e] 11} When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.^{(T) 12} So he said to him, ‘Friend,^(U) how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,^[f] and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”^(V)

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12 He^(A) 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 servant^(D) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^(E) of the vineyard from them. ³ But they took him, beat^(F) him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{(G) 4} Again he sent another servant 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; some they beat, and others they killed. 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 to one another, ‘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 What then will the owner^[c](J) of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this Scripture:^(K)

¹² They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

⁹ Now^(A) he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,^(B) leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. ¹⁰ At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent yet another servant, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved^(C) son. Perhaps^[a] they will respect him.’

¹⁴ “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’^{(D) 15} So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill^(E) those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”

But when they heard this they said, “That must never happen!” ^(F)

¹⁷ But he looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:^[b](G)

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”^(I)