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did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?"
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They started to argue among themselves, "What shall we say? If we say, "From God,' he will say, "Why, then, did you not believe John?'
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But if we say, "From human beings,' this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet."
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So they answered, "We don't know where it came from."
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And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
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Then Jesus told the people this parable: "There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.
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When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing.
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So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing.
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Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out.
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Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!'
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But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, "This is the owner's son. Let's kill him, and his property will be ours!'