1. Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey.
2. When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest.
3. The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing.
4. Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully.
5. The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others.
6. The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said.
7. But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’