Then He went into the temple. The chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and asked, By what authority do you do these things? Who gave thee this authority?
Jesus replied, I, in turn, will ask you one thing, which, if ye can tell me, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven or from man?
They reasoned among themselves and said, If we say, From heaven; He will ask us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we say, From man; we fear the people for they hold John as a prophet.
Finally they said to Jesus, We cannot tell. Jesus responded, Neither, then, do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Hear this. A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, today go to work in my vineyard. The son answered, I will not. But, afterward he repented and went to work. Then the man went to the second son and said the same thing. The second son said, I will go, sir; but he did not go. Which of these two did the will of his father? They answered, The first son.
Jesus said, Verily I say, The publicans and the harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. John came to you in the way of righteousness and ye believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And ye, even after ye had seen, did not repent that ye believed him.
Hear another parable: There was a householder who planted a vineyard. He hedged it all around, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to husbandsmen and went abroad. When the time of the harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandsmen to receive the fruits of it. The husbandsmen took his servants, beat one, stoned one, and killed another. Next, he sent more servants than the first time. They did to them the same thing. Finally, he sent his son, saying, They will respect my son. But when the husbandsmen saw the son, they said, This is the heir. Let us kill him and seize his inheritance. So they caught him, cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these husbandsmen?
They said to Jesus, He will destroy these miserable and wicked men and he will rent out his vineyard to others who will render him the fruits in their seasons.
Jesus said, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected is the same that has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes? I tell you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation that brings forth its fruits. Whoever falls on this stone shall be broken. On whomever this stone falls, he will be ground into powder.
When the chief priests and Pharisees heard these parables, they saw that Jesus spoke about them. But when they thought of laying hands on Him, they feared the multitude because they took Jesus for a prophet.