1. Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey.
2. When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest.
3. The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing.
4. Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully.
5. The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others.