9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable ; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.
10 And at the season he sent a ser- vant to the husbandmen,- that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard : but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.
11 And again he sent another ser- vant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away em^ty.
12 And again he sent a third : and they wounded him also, and cast him out.
13 Then said the lord of the vine- yard, What shall I do .> I will send my beloved son : it may be they will reverence him when they see him.
14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying. This is the heir : come, let us
kill him, that the inheritance may be our* 8.
15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them .^
16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vine- yard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
17 And he beheld them, and said. What is this then that is written. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the cor- ner?
18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken ; but on whom- soever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
19 And the Chief Priests and the Scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people : for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
The parable we have now read, is one of the very few which are recorded more than once by the Gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all give it at full length.