6. But if we say ‘From human beings,’ this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”
7. So they answered, “We don't know where it came from.”
8. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”
9. Then Jesus told the people this parable: “There was once a man who planted a vineyard, let it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.
10. When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing.
11. So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing.
12. Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out.
13. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!’
14. But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’
15. So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?” Jesus asked.