“ But the renters 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.’

不料，那些园户彼此说：‘这是承受产业的。来吧，我们杀他，产业就归我们了！’

那些园户却彼此说：‘这是承受产业的。来，我们杀了他，产业就归我们了！’

那些园户却彼此说：‘这是承受产业的。来，我们杀了他，产业就归我们了！’

这班佃户却彼此商量说，‘这个就是园主的继承人。来吧！我们杀掉他，产业就归我们了。’

那些佃户却彼此说：‘这是继承产业的；来，我们杀了他，产业就是我们的了。’

“可是那些农夫彼此说：‘这是继承人。来，我们把他杀了，那继业就归我们了。’

不料，那些園戶彼此說：『這是承受產業的。來吧，我們殺他，產業就歸我們了！』

那些園戶卻彼此說：『這是承受產業的。來，我們殺了他，產業就歸我們了！』

那些園戶卻彼此說：『這是承受產業的。來，我們殺了他，產業就歸我們了！』

這班佃戶卻彼此商量說，『這個就是園主的繼承人。來吧！我們殺掉他，產業就歸我們了。』

那些佃戶卻彼此說：‘這是繼承產業的；來，我們殺了他，產業就是我們的了。’

那些園工卻彼此說：「這是承繼產業的；來吧；我們殺他，產業就歸我們了。」

「可是那些農夫彼此說：『這是繼承人。來，我們把他殺了，那繼業就歸我們了。』

農夫相語曰、此其嗣子、且來殺之、業歸我矣、

農夫相告曰、此其嗣子、且來殺之、業歸我矣、

園夫相語曰、斯乃嗣子、盍來殺之、業必歸我、

詎園戶議曰：「是為其嗣、曷共殺之、其產歸吾矣。」

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

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

“ But the tenant farmers said to one another,‘ Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’

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

But those vine growers said to one another,‘ This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’

But those vinedressers said among themselves,‘ This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

“ But those tenant farmers said among themselves,‘ This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’

But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

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

But those farmers said among themselves,‘ This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

“ We gave you clear orders not to teach in Jesus’ name,” he said.“ But you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You want to make us guilty of this man’s death.”

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.

Many enemies are all around me. They are like strong bulls from the land of Bashan.They are like roaring lions that tear to pieces what they kill. They open their mouths wide to attack me.My strength is like water that is poured out on the ground. I feel as if my bones aren’t connected. My heart has turned to wax. It has melted away inside me.My mouth is dried up like a piece of broken pottery. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You bring me down to the edge of the grave.

The Lord sets his people free. He is the Holy One of Israel. He speaks to his servant, who is looked down on and hated by the nations. He speaks to the servant of rulers. He says to him,“ Kings will see you and stand up to honor you. Princes will see you and bow down to show you their respect. I am the Lord. I am faithful. I am the Holy One of Israel. I have chosen you.”

I will make you and the woman hate each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head. And you will bite his heel.”

He was treated badly and made to suffer. But he didn’t open his mouth. He was led away like a lamb to be killed. Sheep are silent while their wool is being cut off. In the same way, he didn’t open his mouth.He was arrested and sentenced to death. Then he was taken away. He was cut off from this life. He was punished for the sins of my people. Who among those who were living at that time tried to stop what was happening?

Long ago God planned that Jesus would be handed over to you. With the help of evil people, you put Jesus to death. You nailed him to the cross.

Was there ever a prophet your people didn’t try to hurt? They even killed those who told about the coming of the Blameless One. And now you have handed him over to his enemies. You have murdered him.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.“ What can we do?” they asked.“ This man is performing many signs.If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.”One of the Jewish leaders spoke up. His name was Caiaphas. He was high priest at that time. He said,“ You don’t know anything at all!You don’t realize what is good for you. It is better if one man dies for the people than if the whole nation is destroyed.”

Herod realized that the Wise Men had tricked him. So he became very angry. He gave orders about Bethlehem and the area around it. He ordered all the boys two years old and under to be killed. This agreed with the time when the Wise Men had seen the star.

When King Herod heard about it, he was very upset. Everyone in Jerusalem was troubled too.So Herod called together all the chief priests of the people. He also called the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Messiah was going to be born.“ In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied.“ This is what the prophet has written. He said,“‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least important among the towns of Judah. A ruler will come out of you. He will rule my people Israel like a shepherd.’ ”( Micah 5:2)Then Herod secretly called for the Wise Men. He found out from them exactly when the star had appeared.He sent them to Bethlehem. He said,“ Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report it to me. Then I can go and worship him too.”After the Wise Men had listened to the king, they went on their way. The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them. It finally stopped over the place where the child was.When they saw the star, they were filled with joy.The Wise Men went to the house. There they saw the child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh.But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road.When the Wise Men had left, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph.“ Get up!” the angel said.“ Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. Herod is going to search for the child. He wants to kill him.”

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. By finding him guilty, they made the prophets’ words come true. These are read every Sabbath day.The people and their rulers had no reason at all for sentencing Jesus to death. But they asked Pilate to have him killed.

“ Come. Let’s kill him. Let’s throw him into one of these empty wells. Let’s say that a wild animal ate him up. Then we’ll see whether his dreams will come true.”

The kings of the earth rise up against the Lord. The rulers of the earth join together against his anointed king.“ Let us break free from their chains,” they say.“ Let us throw off their ropes.”