1. Yeshua began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. He leased it to some tenant farmers and went on a journey.
2. And at the season, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants part of the vineyard’s fruit.
3. But grabbing him, they beat him up and sent him away empty-handed.
4. And again the man sent another servant to them, and they wounded his head and treated him shamefully.
5. He sent another, and that one they killed; and so on with many others, beating some and killing some.
6. He had yet one, a well-loved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7. “But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’
8. So grabbing the son, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9. “What then will the master of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
10. Haven’t you read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the chief cornerstone.
11. This came from Adonai, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’”
12. They were trying to seize Yeshua, because they realized that He spoke the parable against them. But they feared the crowd, so they left Him and went away.
13. Then they send some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Yeshua in order to trap Him with a word.
14. They come and say to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are honest, and what others think doesn’t concern You. You don’t look at men’s appearance, but teach the way of God according to the truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
15. Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?” But Yeshua saw through their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius so I may see it.”
16. They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they said to Him.