Luke 20

¹And it happened that on one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came up, together with the elders.

²and said to him, 'Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority?'

³And he answered them, 'I will also ask you one question, and you tell me:'

⁴The baptism of John — was it from heaven or from men?

⁵So they discussed it among themselves, saying, 'If we say, From heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him?'

⁶But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.

⁷So they answered that they did not know where.

⁸Then Jesus said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.'

⁹Then he began to tell this parable to the people: 'A certain man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time.

¹⁰And at the season he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants sent him away, having beaten him empty-handed.

¹²So he proceeded to send a third. But they also wounded him and cast him out.

¹³Then the master of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps having seen him, they will respect him.'

¹⁴But having seen him, the farmers deliberated with one another, saying, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may become ours.'

¹⁵And having thrown him out of the vineyard, they killed him. What then will the master of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶He will come and destroy these farmers and give the vineyard to others. But when they heard it, they said, 'May it never be!'

¹⁷But he, having gazed at them, said, ‘What then is this that is written: “The stone that the builders rejected — this one has become the cornerstone”?’

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be shattered, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.

¹⁹And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay their hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

²⁰And having kept watch, they sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch him in some word, so as to hand him over to the rule and authority of the governor.