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Matthew 21:33-46
The Message
Matthew 21:33-46
The Message
The Story of the Greedy Farmhands
33-34 “Here’s another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35-37 “The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they will respect my son.’
38-39 “But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40 “Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?”
41 “He’ll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance,” they answered. “Then he’ll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it’s time.”
42-44 Jesus said, “Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:
The stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone.
This is God’s work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
“This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed.”
45-46 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.
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Matthew 21:33-46
New International Version
Matthew 21:33-46
New International Version
The Parable of the Tenants(A)
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted(B) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.(C) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.(D) 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants(E) to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.(F) 36 Then he sent other servants(G) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.(H) Come, let’s kill him(I) and take his inheritance.’(J) 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”(K) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,(L) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?(M)
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you(N) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b](O)
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.(P)
Footnotes
- Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
- Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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