The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

A vineyard owner sends servants and then his beloved son to collect fruit, but the tenants beat the messengers and kill the son. Jesus then speaks of the owner’s judgment and the stone that breaks or crushes.

T⁹hen He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time. ¹⁰At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹So he sent another servant, but they beat him and treated him shamefully, sending him away empty-handed. ¹²Then he sent a third, but they wounded him and threw him out. ¹³‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴But when the tenants saw the son, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ¹⁶What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ¹⁷But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ¹⁸Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”