20 And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the ^[a]gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; ² and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? ³ And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a ^[b]question; and tell me: ⁴ The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? ⁵ And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? ⁶ But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. ⁷ And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. ⁸ And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

⁹ And he began to speak unto the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country for a long time. ¹⁰ And at the season he sent unto the husbandmen a ^[c]servant, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. ¹¹ And he sent yet another ^[d]servant: and him also they beat, and handled him shamefully, and sent him away empty. ¹² And he sent yet a third: and him also they wounded, and cast him forth. ¹³ And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him. ¹⁴ But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned one with another, saying, This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. ¹⁵ And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do unto them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And when they heard it, they said, ^[e]God forbid. ¹⁷ But he looked upon them, and said, What then is this that is written,

¹⁸ Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.

¹⁹ And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them. ²⁰ And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the ^[g]rule and to the authority of the governor. ²¹ And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: ²² Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? ²³ But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, ²⁴ Show me a ^[h]denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Caesar’s. ²⁵ And he said unto them, Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. ²⁶ And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.