Mark 12:1-9 ▼

1 Then, using this illustration, Jesus spoke to them. He said, |A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, made a vat for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to vineyard workers and went on a trip.

2 |At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to collect from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard.

3 The workers took the servant, beat him, and sent him back with nothing.

4 So the man sent another servant to them. They hit the servant on the head and treated him shamefully.

5 The man sent another, and they killed that servant. Then he sent many other servants. Some of these they beat, and others they killed.

6 |He had one more person to send. That person was his son, whom he loved. Finally, he sent his son to them. He thought, 'They will respect my son.'

7 |But those workers said to one another, 'This is the heir. Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

8 So they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 |What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the workers and give the vineyard to others.