The Parable of the Vineyard and the Vinedressers^(A)

⁹ He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to vinedressers, and went to a distant country for a long time. ¹⁰ At harvest time he sent a servant to the vinedressers so they might give him some fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Again, he sent another servant. But they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² Once again, he sent a third. And they wounded him also and drove him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him when they see him.’

¹⁴ “But when the vinedressers saw him, they debated among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they drove 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 these vinedressers and will give the vineyard to others.”

When they heard this, they said, “May it not be so!”

¹⁷ He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken. But he on whom it falls will be crushed to powder.”^[b]

¹⁹ The chief priests and the scribes tried to lay their hands on Him that same hour, but they feared the people. For they perceived that He had told this parable against them.