Synopsis of the Gospels
Compare similar Bible verses (New International Reader’s Version):
Matthew 21
The story of the tenants
33 ‘Listen to another story. A man who owned some land planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress in it. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he moved to another place.
34 When harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the tenants. He told the slaves to collect his share of the fruit.
35 ‘But the tenants grabbed his slaves. They beat one of them. They killed another. They threw stones at the third to kill him.
36 Then the man sent other slaves to the tenants. He sent more than he did the first time. The tenants treated them the same way.
37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said.
38 ‘But the tenants saw the son coming. They said to one another, “This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.”
39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then they killed him.
40 ‘When the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?’
41 ‘He will destroy those evil people,’ they replied. ‘Then he will rent the vineyard out to other tenants. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.’
42 Jesus said to them, ‘Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say, ‘ “The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all. The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes”?
43 ‘So here is what I tell you. The kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who will produce its fruit.
44 Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on.’
45 The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories. They knew he was talking about them.
46 So they looked for a way to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowd. The people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
Mark 12
The story of the tenants
1 Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place.
2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing.
4 So the man sent another servant to the tenants. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly.
5 The man sent still another servant. The tenants killed him. The man sent many others. The tenants beat up some of them. They killed the others.
6 ‘The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, “They will respect my son.”
7 ‘But the tenants said to each other, “This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.”
8 So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.
9 ‘What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those tenants. He will give the vineyard to others.
10 Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says, ‘ “The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all.
11 The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes”?’
12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.
Luke 20
The story of the tenants
9 Jesus went on to tell the people a story. ‘A man planted a vineyard,’ he said. ‘He rented it out to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time.
10 At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants. They were supposed to give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the slave. Then they sent him away with nothing.
11 So the man sent another slave. They beat that one and treated him badly. They also sent him away with nothing.
12 The man sent a third slave. The tenants wounded him and threw him out.
13 ‘Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What should I do? I have a son, and I love him. I will send him. Maybe they will respect him.”
14 ‘But when the tenants saw the son, they talked the matter over. “This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday,” they said. “Let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.”
15 So they threw him out of the vineyard. And they killed him. ‘What will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?
16 He will come and kill them. He will give the vineyard to others.’ When the people heard this, they said, ‘We hope this never happens!’
17 Jesus looked right at them and said, ‘Here is something I want you to explain the meaning of. It is written, ‘ “The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all.”
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on.’
19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest Jesus at once. They knew he had told that story against them. But they were afraid of the people.