Matthew 21:33-44

New International Version

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) ³⁴When 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) ³⁶Then he sent other servants^(G) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last 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) ³⁹So 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.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[a]?^(M)

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. ⁴⁴Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[b]^(O)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.

1 Peter 2:4-10

New International Version

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

⁴As you come to him, the living Stone^(A)—rejected by humans but chosen by God^(B) and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built^(C) into a spiritual house^[a]^(D) to be a holy priesthood,^(E) offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.^(F) ⁶For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,^(G)
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”^[b]^(H)

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

“The stone the builders rejected^(J)
has become the cornerstone,”^[c]^(K)

⁸and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”^[d]^(L)

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

⁹But you are a chosen people,^(N) a royal priesthood,^(O) a holy nation,^(P) God’s special possession,^(Q) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^(R) ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;^(S) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.