12 Then he started to speak to them with illustrations: “A man planted a vineyard+ and put a fence around it and dug a vat for the winepress and erected a tower;+ then he leased it to cultivators and traveled abroad.+ 2 In due season he sent a slave to the cultivators to collect some of the fruits of the vineyard from them. 3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent another slave to them, and that one they struck on the head and dishonored.+ 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed, and many others, some of whom they beat and some of whom they killed. 6 One more he had, a beloved son.+ He sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those cultivators said among themselves, ‘This is the heir.+ Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.+ 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the cultivators and will give the vineyard to others.+

9 Then he began to tell the people this illustration: “A man planted a vineyard+ and leased it to cultivators, and he traveled abroad for a considerable time.+ 10 In due season he sent a slave to the cultivators so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. The cultivators, however, sent him away empty-handed, after beating him.+ 11 But again he sent another slave. That one also they beat and humiliated* and sent away empty-handed. 12 Yet again he sent a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13 At this the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son, the beloved.+ They will likely respect this one.’ 14 When the cultivators caught sight of him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.+ What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill these cultivators and will give the vineyard to others.”

On hearing this, they said: “Never may that happen!”