Study Desk

Then children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.

After placing his hands on them, he went on from there.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,

“He answered, ‘I don’t want to’ but later he changed his mind and went.

Which of the two did his father’s will?”

When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit.

The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’

“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them.

He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet,

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business,

while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

“Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.

And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.