The Parable of the Two Sons
28 h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ithe vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he jchanged his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, kthe tax collectors and lthe prostitutes go into mthe kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you nin the way of righteousness, and oyou did not believe him, but pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward jchange your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ra vineyard sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and tleased it to tenants, and uwent into another country.
2 When the season came, he sent a servant1 to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 gAnd they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 tAnd she sent another servant. But they also beat and utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
5 gAnd he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, y‘This is the heir. Come, zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
16 zHe will acome and destroy those tenants and bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”
42 Jesus said to them, e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:
f“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;1
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God gwill be taken away from you and given to a people hproducing its fruits. 44 And ithe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”2
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be na prophet.
12 And vthey were seeking to arrest him wbut feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they xleft him and went away.
