Luke 20:7-21

⁷So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

⁹Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to farmers, and went away on a long journey.

¹⁰At the proper time he sent a slave to the farmers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers flogged him and sent him away empty-handed.

¹¹Again he sent a different slave; so they flogged him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.

¹²And again he sent a third; but they wounded him also and threw him out.

¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said: ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; hopefully they will respect him when they see him.’

¹⁴But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying: ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, so that the inheritance may become ours.’

¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

¹⁶He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.” Having heard it they said, “May it never be!”

¹⁷Then He looked directly at them and said: “What then is this that is written: ‘A stone that the builders rejected, the same became the cornerstone’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it should fall—it will crush him!”

¹⁹The chief priests and the scribes wanted to lay hands on Him right then, but they were afraid —they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

²⁰Keeping a close watch on Him, they sent spies, who pretended to be innocent, so that they might latch on to something He said, so as to hand Him over to the power and the authority of the governor.

²¹So they questioned Him, saying: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and you do not show favoritism but teach the way of God in truth.