21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 10:21 Isaiah 65:2

All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,(A)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations(B)
a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,(C)
offering sacrifices in gardens(D)
    and burning incense(E) on altars of brick;
who sit among the graves(F)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(G)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred(H) for you!’
Such people are smoke(I) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

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

42 Jesus 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23

15 Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets(A) to you. They said, “Each of you must turn(B) from your wicked ways and reform(C) your actions; do not follow other gods(D) to serve them. Then you will live in the land(E) I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened(F) to me.

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and,

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

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

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14

16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles(A) so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.(B) The wrath of God has come upon them at last.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Thessalonians 2:16 Or them fully

46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first.(A) Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.(B) 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“‘I have made you[a] a light for the Gentiles,(C)
    that you[b] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[c](D)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 13:47 The Greek is singular.
  2. Acts 13:47 The Greek is singular.
  3. Acts 13:47 Isaiah 49:6

51 “You stiff-necked people!(A) Your hearts(B) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?(C) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(D)

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47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name(A) to all nations,(B) beginning at Jerusalem.(C)

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34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;(A) others you will flog in your synagogues(B) and pursue from town to town.(C) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel(D) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,(E) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.(F) 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.(G)

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,(H) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,(I) and you were not willing.

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He sent his servants(A) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants(B) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers(C) and burned their city.

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The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like(A) a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.(B) He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came,(C) the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble(D) against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat(E) of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend.(F) Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 20:2 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer.

Again and again(A) I sent my servants the prophets,(B) who said, ‘Do not do this detestable(C) thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or pay attention;(D) they did not turn from their wickedness(E) or stop burning incense(F) to other gods.(G) Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out;(H) it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins(I) they are today.

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And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets(A) to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.(B)

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24 But since you refuse(A) to listen when I call(B)
    and no one pays attention(C) when I stretch out my hand,

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26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law.(A) They killed(B) your prophets,(C) who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.(D)

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And the Lord told him: “Listen(A) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,(B) but they have rejected me as their king.(C) As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking(D) me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

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27 For I know how rebellious(A) and stiff-necked(B) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!

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13 And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people(A), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!

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