Matthew 21:33-35

Expanded Bible

The Story of the Evil Farmers^(A)

³³ “Listen to ·this story [another parable]: There was a ·man who owned [landowner who planted] a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a ·hole [vat; pit] for a winepress and built a tower [^Cto protect against thieves; see Is. 5:1–7 for the background to this parable]. Then he leased the land to some [^Ctenant] farmers and left for a trip [^Cthe owner represents God, the farmers are Israel’s religious leaders]. ³⁴ When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent his ·servants [slaves] to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵ But the farmers grabbed the ·servants [slaves], beat one, killed another, and then ·killed a third servant with stones [^Lstoned a third].