³³ “Now listen to this story: A certain landowner planted a vineyard with a hedge around it, and built a platform for the watchman, then leased the vineyard to some farmers on a sharecrop basis, and went away to live in another country.

³⁴ “At the time of the grape harvest he sent his agents to the farmers to collect his share. ³⁵ But the farmers attacked his men, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

³⁶ “Then he sent a larger group of his men to collect for him, but the results were the same. ³⁷ Finally the owner sent his son, thinking they would surely respect him.

³⁸ “But when these farmers saw the son coming, they said among themselves, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate; come on, let’s kill him and get it for ourselves!’ ³⁹ So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “When the owner returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ The Jewish leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him promptly.”

⁴² Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone rejected by the builders has been made the honored cornerstone;^[a] how remarkable! what an amazing thing the Lord has done’?

⁴³ “What I mean is that the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation that will give God his share of the crop.^{[b] 44} All who stumble on this rock of truth^[c] shall be broken, but those it falls on will be scattered as dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them—that they were the farmers in his story— ⁴⁶ they wanted to get rid of him but were afraid to try because of the crowds, for they accepted Jesus as a prophet.

22 ^1-2 Jesus told several other stories to show what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.

“For instance,” he said, “it can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding dinner for his son. ³ Many guests were invited, and when the banquet was ready, he sent messengers to notify everyone that it was time to come. But all refused! ⁴ So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘Everything is ready and the roast is in the oven. Hurry!’

⁵ “But the guests he had invited merely laughed and went on about their business, one to his farm, another to his store; ⁶ others beat up his messengers and treated them shamefully, even killing some of them.

⁷ “Then the angry king sent out his army and destroyed the murderers and burned their city. ⁸ And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. ⁹ Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’

¹⁰ “So the servants did, and brought in all they could find, good and bad alike; and the banquet hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the wedding robe provided for him.^[a]

¹² “‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how does it happen that you are here without a wedding robe?’ And the man had no reply.

¹³ “Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

20 Then God issued this edict:

² “I am Jehovah your God who liberated you from your slavery in Egypt.

³ “You may worship no other god than me.

⁴ “You shall not make yourselves any idols: no images of animals, birds, or fish. ⁵ You must never bow or worship it in any way; for I, the Lord your God, am very possessive. I will not share your affection with any other god!

“And when I punish people for their sins, the punishment continues upon the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those who hate me; ⁶ but I lavish my love upon thousands of those who love me and obey my commandments.

⁷ “You shall not use the name of Jehovah your God irreverently,^[a] nor use it to swear to a falsehood. You will not escape punishment if you do.

⁸ “Remember to observe the Sabbath as a holy day. ⁹ Six days a week are for your daily duties and your regular work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest before the Lord your God. On that day you are to do no work of any kind, nor shall your son, daughter, or slaves—whether men or women—or your cattle or your house guests. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heaven, earth, and sea, and everything in them, and rested the seventh day; so he blessed the Sabbath day and set it aside for rest.^[b]

¹² “Honor your father and mother, that you may have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God will give you.

¹³ “You must not murder.

¹⁴ “You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You must not steal.

¹⁶ “You must not lie.^[c]

¹⁷ “You must not be envious of your neighbor’s house, or want to sleep with his wife, or want to own his slaves, oxen, donkeys, or anything else he has.”

¹⁸ All the people saw the lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, and heard the thunder and the long, frightening trumpet blast; and they stood at a distance, shaking with fear.

¹⁹ They said to Moses, “You tell us what God says and we will obey, but don’t let God speak directly to us, or it will kill us.”

²⁰ “Don’t be afraid,” Moses told them, “for God has come in this way to show you his awesome power, so that from now on you will be afraid to sin against him!”

²¹ As the people stood in the distance, Moses entered into the deep darkness where God was.

²² And the Lord told Moses to be his spokesman to the people of Israel. “You are witnesses to the fact that I have made known my will to you from heaven. ²³ Remember, you must not make or worship idols made of silver or gold or of anything else!

²⁴ “The altars you make for me must be simple altars of earth. Offer upon them your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings of sheep and oxen. Build altars only where I tell you to, and I will come and bless you there. ²⁵ You may also build altars from stone, but if you do, then use only uncut stones and boulders. Don’t chip or shape the stones with a tool, for that would make them unfit for my altar. ²⁶ And don’t make steps for the altar, or someone might look up beneath the skirts of your clothing and see your nakedness.

21 “Here are other laws you must obey:

² “If you buy a Hebrew slave,^[d] he shall serve only six years and be freed in the seventh year, and need pay nothing to regain his freedom.

³ “If he sold himself as a slave before he married, then if he married afterwards, only he shall be freed; but if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife shall be freed with him at the same time. ⁴ But if his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they have sons or daughters, the wife and children shall still belong to the master, and he shall go out by himself free.

⁵ “But if the man shall plainly declare, ‘I prefer my master, my wife, and my children, and I would rather not go free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him before the judges and shall publicly bore his ear with an awl, and after that he will be a slave forever.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. ⁸ If she does not please the man who bought her, then he shall let her be bought back again; but he has no power to sell her to foreigners, since he has wronged her by no longer wanting her after marrying her. ⁹ And if he arranges an engagement between a Hebrew slave girl and his son, then he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but must treat her as a daughter. ¹⁰ If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing, or fail to sleep with her as his wife. ¹¹ If he fails in any of these three things, then she may leave freely without any payment.

¹² “Anyone who hits a man so hard that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ But if it is accidental—an act of God—and not intentional, then I will appoint a place where he can run and get protection. ¹⁴ However, if a man deliberately attacks another, intending to kill him, drag him even from my altar, and kill him.

¹⁵ “Anyone who strikes his father or mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶ “A kidnapper must be killed, whether he is caught in possession of his victim or has already sold him as a slave.

¹⁷ “Anyone who reviles or curses his mother or father shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If two men are fighting, and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and injures him so that he must be confined to bed, but doesn’t die, ¹⁹ if later he is able to walk again, even with a limp,^[e] the man who hit him will be innocent except that he must pay for the loss of his time until he is thoroughly healed, and pay any medical expenses.

²⁰ “If a man beats his slave to death—whether the slave is male or female—that man shall surely be punished. ²¹ However, if the slave does not die for a couple of days, then the man shall not be punished—for the slave is his property.

²² “If two men are fighting, and in the process hurt a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage, but she lives, then the man who injured her shall be fined whatever amount the woman’s husband shall demand, and as the judges approve. ²³ But if any harm comes to the woman and she dies, he shall be executed.

²⁴ “If her eye is injured, injure his; if her tooth is knocked out, knock out his; and so on—hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, lash for lash.

²⁶ “If a man hits his slave in the eye, whether man or woman, and the eye is blinded, then the slave shall go free because of his eye. ²⁷ And if a master knocks out his slave’s tooth, he shall let him go free to pay for the tooth.

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its flesh not eaten, but the owner shall not be held— ²⁹ unless the ox was known to gore people in the past, and the owner had been notified and still the ox was not kept under control; in that case, if it kills someone, the ox shall be stoned and the owner also shall be killed. ³⁰ But the dead man’s relatives may accept a fine instead, if they wish. The judges will determine the amount.^[f]

³¹ “The same law holds if the ox gores a boy or a girl. ³² But if the ox gores a slave, whether male or female, the slave’s master shall be given thirty pieces of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ “If a man digs a well and doesn’t cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the well shall pay full damages to the owner of the animal, and the dead animal shall belong to him.

³⁵ “If a man’s ox injures another, and it dies, then the two owners shall sell the live ox and divide the price between them—and each shall also own half of the dead ox. ³⁶ But if the ox was known from past experience to gore, and its owner has not kept it under control, then there will not be a division of the income; but the owner of the living ox shall pay in full for the dead ox, and the dead one shall be his.