The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (A)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(B)a vineyard ^(C)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(D)leased it to tenants, and ^(E)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ^(F)to get his fruit. ^35 (G)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(H)stoned another. ^36 (I)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(J)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(K)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(L)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (M)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(N)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(O)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(P)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(R)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(S)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(T)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(U)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[c]

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² And ^(A)they devoted themselves to the apostles' ^(B)teaching and the ^(C)fellowship, to ^(D)the breaking of bread and the prayers.

⁴ There is ^(A)one body and ^(B)one Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^(C)hope that belongs to your call— ^5 (D)one Lord, ^(E)one faith, ^(F)one baptism, ^6 (G)one God and Father of all, ^(H)who is over all and through all and in all.

¹⁴ For ^(A)here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. ^15 (B)Through him then let us continually offer up ^(C)a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(D)the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and ^(E)to share what you have, for such ^(F)sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(A)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(B)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(C)first and also to ^(D)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(E)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(F)from faith for faith,^{[a] (G)}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”^[b]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(H)the wrath of God ^(I)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^(A)God gave them up to ^(B)a debased mind to do ^(C)what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know ^(D)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(E)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(F)give approval to those who practice them.