1. Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.
2. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully.
5. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.