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And when he was comeinto the temple, the chief priestsand the elders of the peoplecame unto him as he was teaching, and said, Bywhatauthority doest thou these things?andwhogavetheethisauthority?
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AndJesusanswered and said unto them, I also will askyouonething,whichif ye tellme, I in like wise will tellyoubywhatauthority I do these things.
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The baptism of John,whence was it? fromheaven,orofmen?And they reasonedwiththemselves,saying, If we shall say, Fromheaven; he will say unto us,Why did yenotthenbelievehim?
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Butif we shall say, Ofmen; we fear the people;forallholdJohnas a prophet.
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And they answeredJesus, and said, We cannottell. Andhesaid unto them,NeithertellIyoubywhatauthority I do these things.
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Butwhatthinkye? A certain manhadtwosons;and he came to the first, and said, Son,gowork to dayinmyvineyard.
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He answered* and said, I willnot:butafterward he repented, and went.
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And he came to the second, and saidlikewise.And he answered and said, I go, sir:andwentnot.
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Whetherof them twaindid the will of his father? They say unto him, The first.Jesussaith unto them,Verily I say unto you,That the publicansand the harlotsgointo the kingdom of Godbeforeyou.
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ForJohncameuntoyouin the way of righteousness,and ye believedhimnot:but the publicansand the harlotsbelievedhim:andye, when ye had seen it, repentednotafterward, that ye might believehim.
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Hearanotherparable: There was a certain*householder,whichplanted a vineyard,andhedgedit round about, anddigged a winepressinit,andbuilt a tower,andletitout to husbandmen,and went into a far country:
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Andwhen the time of the fruit drew near, he senthisservantsto the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
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And the husbandmentookhisservants, and beatone*, andkilledanother,andstonedanother.
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Again, he sentotherservantsmore than the first:and they did unto themlikewise.
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But last of all he sentuntothemhisson,saying, They will reverencemyson.
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But when the husbandmensaw the son, they saidamongthemselves,Thisis the heir;come, let us killhim,and let us seize on hisinheritance.
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And they caughthim, and cast him out of the vineyard,andslew him.
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When the lordtherefore of the vineyardcometh, what will he do unto thosehusbandmen?
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They say unto him, He will miserablydestroythose wicked men,and will let out his vineyard unto otherhusbandmen,which shall renderhim the fruitsintheirseasons.
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Jesussaith unto them,Did yeneverreadin the scriptures, The stonewhich the buildersrejected, the same is become* the head of the corner:thisis the Lord'sdoing, and it ismarvellousinoureyes?
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ThereforesayI unto you*, The kingdom of God shall be takenfromyou,andgiven to a nation bringing forth the fruitsthereof.
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And whosoever shall fallonthisstone shall be broken: butonwhomsoeverit shall fall, it will grindhim to powder.
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And when the chief priestsandPharisees had heardhisparables, they perceivedthat he spakeofthem.
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But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude,because they tookhimfor a prophet.