Mark 12:1-12

Contemporary English Version

Renters of a Vineyard

(Matthew 21.33-46; Luke 20.9-19)

12 ^(A) Jesus then told them this story:

A farmer once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

² When it was harvest time, he sent a servant to get his share of the grapes. ³ The renters grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him away without a thing.

⁴ The owner sent another servant, but the renters beat him on the head and insulted him terribly. ⁵ Then the man sent another servant, and they killed him. He kept sending servant after servant. They beat some of them and killed some.

⁶ The owner had a son he loved very much. Finally, he sent his son to the renters because he thought they would respect him. ⁷ But they said to themselves, “Someday he will own this vineyard. Let's kill him! That way we can have it all for ourselves.” ⁸ So they grabbed the owner's son, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹ Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard. ^10 (B) You surely know that the Scriptures say,

¹² The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left.