3. But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing.
4. Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him.
5. So the man sent another servant. They killed this servant. The man sent many other servants. The farmers beat some of them and killed others.
6. “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
7. “But they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours.’
8. So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9. “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go to the vineyard and kill those farmers. Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers.
10. Surely you have read this Scripture:‘The stone that the builders did not wantbecame the cornerstone.
11. The Lord did this,and it is wonderful to us.’” Psalm 118:22-23
12. The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.
13. Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and some men from the group called Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to catch Jesus saying something wrong.
14. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you. All men are the same to you. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them, or not?”