1. Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
2. At harvest time he sent a slave to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the farmers.
3. But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
4. Again he sent another slave to them, and they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.
5. Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.
6. “He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7. “But those tenant farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours! ’
8. So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9. “Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.
10. Haven’t you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejectedhas become the cornerstone.
11. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes? ”
12. Because they knew He had said this parable against them, they were looking for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left Him and went away.
13. Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Him to trap Him by what He said.
14. When they came, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know You are truthful and defer to no one, for You don’t show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
15. Should we pay, or should we not pay? ”But knowing their hypocrisy, He said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.”