13
Then the owner of the vineyard said, "What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'
14
But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, "This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.'
15
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16
He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "Heaven forbid!"
17
But he looked at them and said, "What then does this text mean: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?
18
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."
19
When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
20
So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.
21
So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth.
22
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"
23
But he perceived their craftiness and said to them,