1Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
2At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard.
3But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
4Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully.
5He sent still another, and this one they killed.