The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
9 1And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted
2a vineyard and
3let it out to tenants and
4went into another country for a long while.
10
When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that
5they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.
6But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11
7And
8he sent another servant. But they also beat and
9treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
12
10And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
13
Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my
11beloved son; perhaps they will respect him. ’
14
But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves,
12‘This is the heir.
13Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours. ’
15
And they
14threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16
15He will
16come and destroy those tenants and
17give the vineyard to others. ”When they heard this, they said, “Surely not! ”
17
But he
18looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
19“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
18
20Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls
21on anyone, it will crush him. ”
Paying Taxes to Caesar
19 22The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
20
23So they
24watched him and sent spies, who
25pretended to be sincere, that they might
26catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of
27the governor.
21
So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and
28show no partiality, but truly teach
29the way of God.
22
Is it lawful for us to give
30tribute to
31Caesar, or not? ”
23
But he perceived their
32craftiness, and said to them,
24
“Show me
33a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? ”They said, “Caesar’s. ”
25
He said to them, “Then
34render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. ”
26
And they were not able in the presence of the people
35to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.