20:1 Now one 1 day, as Jesus 2 was teaching the people in the temple courts 3 and proclaiming 4 the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law 5 with the elders came up 6 20:2 and said to him, 7 “Tell us: By what authority 8 are you doing these things? 9 Or who it is who gave you this authority?” 20:3 He answered them, 10 “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 20:4 John’s baptism 11 – was it from heaven or from people?” 12 20:5 So 13 they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 20:6 But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 20:7 So 14 they replied that they did not know 15 where it came from. 20:8 Then 16 Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you 17 by whose authority 18 I do these things.”
20:9 Then 19 he began to tell the people this parable: “A man 20 planted a vineyard, 21 leased it to tenant farmers, 22 and went on a journey for a long time. 20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave 23 to the tenants so that they would give 24 him his portion of the crop. 25 However, the tenants beat his slave 26 and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So 27 he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. 28 20:12 So 29 he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 20:13 Then 30 the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; 31 perhaps they will respect him.’ 20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’ 20:15 So 32 they threw him out of the vineyard and killed 33 him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 20:16 He will come and destroy 34 those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” 35 When the people 36 heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” 37 20:17 But Jesus 38 looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 39