The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 1And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him
2as he was teaching, and said,
3"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"
24
Jesus answered them,
"I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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The baptism of John, 4from where did it come? 5From heaven or from man?" And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us,
6'Why then did you not believe him?'
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But if we say, 'From man,'
7we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was
8a prophet."
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So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them,
"Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 9"What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in 10the vineyard today.'
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And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he 11changed his mind and went.
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And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go.
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Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them,
"Truly, I say to you, 12the tax collectors and 13the prostitutes go into 14the kingdom of God before you.
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For John came to you 15in the way of righteousness, and 16you did not believe him, but 17the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward 18change your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 19"Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted 20a vineyard 21and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and 22leased it to tenants, and 23went into another country.
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When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants 24to get his fruit.
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25And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and 26stoned another.
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27Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
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Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
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But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 28'This is the heir. Come, 29let us kill him and have his inheritance.'
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And they took him and 30threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
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31When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
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They said to him,
32"He will put those wretches to a miserable death and
33let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."
42
Jesus said to them,
34"Have you never read in the Scriptures: 35"'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
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Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God 36will be taken away from you and given to a people 37producing its fruits.
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And 38the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and 39when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."
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When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.
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And
40although they were seeking to arrest him,
41they feared the crowds, because they held him to be
42a prophet.