They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and made fun of Abimelech.

I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would tell him, 'Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!' "

In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, "What do these miserable Jews think they're doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?"

I prayed, "Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land.

Be merciful to us, LORD, be merciful; we have been treated with so much contempt.

We have been mocked too long by the rich and scorned by proud oppressors.

When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.

"Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him?

One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others,

"Well," they answered, "are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comes from Galilee."

The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet.

But some worthless people said, "How can this fellow do us any good?" They despised Saul and did not bring him any gifts.

The people kept quiet, just as King Hezekiah had told them to; they did not say a word.

When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge.