But he ¹  left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.

But he ¹  left behind some of the poor ²  and gave them fields and vineyards.

“I am the true vine ¹  and my Father is the gardener. ² 

¹ “Foreigners will take care of ²  your sheep; foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.

Be distressed, ¹  farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished.

He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands ¹  and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, ²  for he loved agriculture. ³ 

At harvest time he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants to collect from them ²  his portion of the crop. ³ 

Then ¹  he began to tell the people this parable: “A man ²  planted a vineyard, ³  leased it to tenant farmers, ⁴  and went on a journey for a long time.

When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ¹  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ² 

But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ¹  killed another, and stoned another.

Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

Then ¹  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ²  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ³  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁴  and went on a journey.

So ¹  he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For ²  three years ³  now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it ⁴  I find none. Cut ⁵  it down! Why ⁶  should it continue to deplete ⁷  the soil?’

When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants so that they would give ²  him his portion of the crop. ³  However, the tenants beat his slave ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed.

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’

They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’

What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy ¹  those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ² 

But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’

He will come and destroy ¹  those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ²  When the people ³  heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” ⁴