3. But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing.
4. Then the man sent another servant to the farmers. They hit this servant on the head, showing no respect for him.
5. So the man sent another servant. The farmers killed this servant. The man sent many other servants to the farmers. The farmers beat some of them and killed the others.
6. “The man had only one person left to send to the farmers. It was his son. He loved his son, but he decided to send him. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
7. “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son, and this vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’
8. So they took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
9. “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go and kill those farmers. Then he will lease the land to others.
10. Surely you have read this in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders refused to accept became the cornerstone.
11. The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.’” Psalm 118:22-23
12. When these Jewish leaders heard this story, they knew it was about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of what the crowd would do. So they 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 him saying something wrong.
14. They went to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what others think about you. All people 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?”
15. But Jesus knew that these men were really trying to trick him. He said, “Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? Bring me a silver coin. Let me see it.”
16. They gave Jesus a coin and he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on it?” They answered, “It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.”
17. Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.