1 And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a trough for the winepress, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey.
2 And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the tenant farmers.
3 And they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 And again he sent to them another slave, and that one they struck on the head and dishonored.
5 And he sent another, and that one they killed. And he sent many others, some of whom they beat and some of whom they killed.
6 He had one more, a beloved son. Last of all he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’