Thematic Bible: Malfeasance in office


Thematic Bible



Then he began to speak to them in figures. "A man once planted a vineyard and fenced it in and hewed out a wine-vat and built a watch tower, and he leased it to tenants and left the neighborhood. At the proper time he sent a slave to the tenants to get from them a share of the vintage. And they took him and beat him and sent him back empty-handed. read more.
And again he sent another slave to them. And they beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another; and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. He still had one left to send, a dearly loved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But the tenants said to one another, 'This is his heir! Come on, let us kill him, and the property will belong to us!' So they took him and killed him, and threw his body outside of the vineyard.

Then he went on to give the people this illustration: "A man once planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went away for along absence. And at the proper time he sent a slave to the tenants to have them give him a share of the vintage, but the tenants beat him, and sent him back empty-handed. And again he sent another slave, and they beat him also and mistreated him and sent him back empty-handed. read more.
And again he sent a third, but they wounded him too, and threw him outside. Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What can I do? I will send them my dear son; perhaps they will respect him.' But when the tenants saw him, they argued with one another, 'This is his heir! Let us kill him, so that the property will belong to us!' So they drove him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

And he said to his disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and it was reported to him that this man was squandering his property. So he called him in and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Make an accounting for your conduct of my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer!' Then the manager said to himself, 'What am I going to do, because my master is going to take my position away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. read more.
I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position people will take me into their homes.' Then he called in each of his master's debtors, and he said to the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?' He said, 'Eight hundred gallons of oil.' And he said to him, 'Here is your agreement; sit right down and write four hundred!' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He answered, 'Fifteen hundred bushels of wheat.' He said to him, 'Here is your agreement; write twelve hundred.'