Proper 22 (27)

4Verse 4. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5Verse 5. circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6Verse 6. as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. 7Verse 7. But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Verse 8. More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9Verse 9. and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. 10Verse 10. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, 11Verse 11. and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12Verse 12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Verse 13. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14Verse 14. I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

33Verse 33. Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. 34Verse 34. When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. 35Verse 35. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Verse 36. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them. 37Verse 37. Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38Verse 38. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39Verse 39. So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40Verse 40. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” 41Verse 41. “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” 42Verse 42. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? 43Verse 43. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44Verse 44. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. ” 45Verse 45. When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them. 46Verse 46. Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.