Mark 12:1-12

The Parable of the Tenants

1  a And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted b a vineyard c and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and d leased it to tenants and e went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant ▼
▼ Greek bondservant; also verse 4
 to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3  g And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4  h Again i he sent to them another servant, and j they struck him on the head and k treated him shamefully. 5  l And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, m a beloved son. n Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another o ‘This is the heir. Come p let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and q threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? r He will s come and destroy the tenants and t give the vineyard to others. 10  u Have you not read v this Scripture:

w “‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ▼
▼ Greek  the head of the corner

 11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And y they were seeking to arrest him z but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they aa left him and went away.

Copyright information for ESV