Here are some other translations of Luke 20:18
(AMPC) Everyone who falls on that Stone will be broken [in pieces]; but upon whomever It falls, It will crush him [winnow him and scatter him as dust]. [Isa_8:14-15; Dan_2:34-35]
(ASV) Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.
(CSB) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”
(GNB) Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, that person will be crushed to dust."
(Greek NT TR) πας ο πεσων επ εκεινον τον λιθον συνθλασθησεται εφ ον δ αν πεση λικμησει αυτον
(GW) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on anyone, it will crush that person."
(HCSB) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and if it falls on anyone, it will grind him to powder!"
(ISV) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."
(KJV) Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
(KJVA) Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
(MKJV) Whoever shall fall on that Stone shall be broken, but on whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
(MSG) "Anyone falling over that stone will break every bone in his body; if the stone falls on anyone, it will be a total smashup."
(NAS77) "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
(NASB) "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
(NIrV) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on."
(NIV) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed."
(NLT) Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
(RV) Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.
Isa 8:13; "It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.
Isa 8:14; "Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15; "Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught."
Dan 2:34; "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.
Dan 2:35; "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Verse says 17 "it is written". Where is it written? Psalms 118.
Psa 118:22; The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.
Psa 118:23; This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
Psa 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
Psa 110:5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
Psa 110:6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
Eph 2:19; So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
Eph 2:20; having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Eph 2:21; in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
Eph 2:22; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
1Cor 3:16; Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1Cor 6:19; Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
Let us put these verses in context.
Luke 20:13; "The owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'
Luke 20:14; "But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, 'This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.'
Luke 20:15; "So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
Luke 20:16; "He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard it, they said, "May it never be!"
Luke 20:17; But Jesus looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone'?
Luke 20:18; "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
Luke 20:19; The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them.
Matthews version may help.
Matt 21:33; "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.
Matt 21:34; "When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce.
Matt 21:35; "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.
Matt 21:36; "Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them.
Matt 21:37; "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
Matt 21:38; "But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'
Matt 21:39; "They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Matt 21:40; "Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?"
Matt 21:41; They *said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons."
Matt 21:42; Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'? ( Psa 118:22-23; )
Matt 21:43; "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
Matt 21:44; "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
Matt 21:45; When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.
Ezek 3:7; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.
Rom 10:21; But as for Israel He says, "ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE."
Matt 23:37; "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
Luke 13:34; "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!
It seems to me, the parable of the tenants is about a vineyard (kingdom of God) that God wants to produce fruit in.
Every time God tries to speak to these people through judges and prophets, they stone them, kill or beat them. They are a stubborn and obstinate people.
So finally God sends His Son (Jesus). But they don't listen to Him either, they kill Him (Jesus knew this was going to happen).
Jesus warns them... "what do you think the owner of the vineyard will do to these people (who killed His Son)?"
It says both in Matt and Luke that the chief priests and Pharisees knew He was talking about them. They are the ones who rejected Jesus. (the chief cornerstone)
Matt 16:15; He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matt 16:16; Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Matt 16:17; And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matt 16:18; "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
The rock the church was being built upon wasn't Peter, it was the fact that Peter realized who Jesus was. Who Jesus is (the Christ, the Son of the living God) is
what the church is built upon. Jesus is the chief cornerstone of this. Not Peter.
Some people believe this is a mult-faceted prophecy.
1. Jerusalem was sacked and shattered in 70ad.
2. The nation of Israel was scattered over the next 600 or 700 years, and ceased to be a nation for over a thousand years.
3. Anyone who rejects Jesus (not just the Jews) will suffer the same fate (on an individual basis).
When we come to Jesus, He "breaks" us. (We are already broken) We are a hardened, mis-shapen lump of clay.
He takes us and adds water (the Holy Spirit) and re-shapes us, re-molds us into His image, so we can be like Him.
People that reject Jesus will also be broken, (shattered) but they will be scattered like dust in the wind.