1. Jesus began to speak to the people by using stories. He said, "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went away on a journey.
2. "At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3. But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing.
4. So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly.
5. The man sent still another servant. The renters killed him. The man sent many others. The renters beat up some of them. They killed the others.
6. "The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, 'They will respect my son.'
7. "But the renters said to each other, 'This is the one who will receive all the owner's property someday. Come, let's kill him. Then everything will be ours.'
8. So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.