And when He had come into the Set-apart Place, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these? And who gave You this authority?”
And יהושע answering, said to them, “I shall ask you one question too, which if you answer Me, I also shall say to you by what authority I do these:
The immersion of Yoḥanan, where did it come from? From heaven or from men? So they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He shall say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd, for all hold Yoḥanan as a prophet.
And they answered יהושע and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither do I say to you by what authority I do these.
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
“And he answering, said, ‘I do not wish to,’ but afterwards he repented and went.
“And having come to the second, he said similarly. And he answering, said, ‘I go, master,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did the desire of the father?” They said to Him, “The first.” יהושע said to them, “Truly, I say to you that tax collectors and whores are entering into the reign of Elohim before you,
for Yoḥanan came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but tax collectors and whores believed him. And when you saw it, you did not repent afterwards, to believe him.
“Hear another parable: There was a certain man, a householder who planted a vineyard and placed a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. And he leased it to farmers and went abroad.
“And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive its fruit.
“And the farmers took his servants and beat one, and they killed one, and they stoned another.
“Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.
“And at last he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They shall respect my son.’
“But when the farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us possess his inheritance.’
“And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
“Therefore, when the master of the vineyard comes, what shall he do to those farmers?”
They said to Him, “Evil ones! He shall bring them to evil destruction, and lease the vineyard to other farmers who shall give to him the fruits in their seasons.”
יהושע said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejeted has become the chief corner-stone. This was from יהוה, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?
“Because of this I say to you: the reign of Elohim shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.
“And he who falls on this stone shall be broken, but on whomever it falls, he shall be pulverised.”
And the chief priests and Pharisees, having heard His parables, knew that He was speaking of them.
And seeking to lay hands on Him, they feared the crowds, seeing they held Him to be a prophet.
Bible App
Bible App for Kids
