13th Sunday of Matthew

Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; ¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.

¹⁴Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. ³⁴When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. ³⁵The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. ³⁷But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. ⁴⁰When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’?