13
"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What should I do? I'll send my son, whom I love. They'll probably respect him.'
14
"When the workers saw him, they talked it over among themselves. They said, 'This is the heir. Let's kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.'
15
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. "What will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16
He will destroy these workers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That's unthinkable!"
17
Then Jesus looked straight at them and asked, "What, then, does this Scripture verse mean: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?
18
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on anyone, it will crush that person."
19
The scribes and the chief priests wanted to arrest him right there, but they were afraid of the people. They knew that he had directed this illustration at them.
20
So they watched for an opportunity to send out some spies. The spies were to act like sincere religious people. They wanted to catch him saying the wrong thing so that they could hand him over to the governor.
21
They asked him, "Teacher, we know that you're right in what you say and teach. Besides, you don't play favorites. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully.
22
Is it right for us to pay taxes to the emperor or not?"
23
He saw through their scheme, so he said to them,