Matthew 21

1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and came unto Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,2 saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.3 And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.4 Now this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

5 Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did even as Jesus appointed them,7 and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their garments; and he sat thereon.8 And the most part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the way.9 And the multitudes that went before him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this?11 And the multitudes said, This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.

12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves;13 and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers.14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were moved with indignation,16 and said unto him, Hearest thou what these are saying? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea: did ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise?17 And he left them, and went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.

18 Now in the morning as he returned to the city, he hungered.19 And seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only; and he saith unto it, Let there be no fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And immediately the fig tree withered away.20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How did the fig tree immediately wither away?21 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done.22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one question, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him?26 But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet.27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.28 But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in the vineyard.29 And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went.30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.31 Which of the two did the will of his father? They say, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him.

33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.34 And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits.35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like manner.37 But afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.38 But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.39 And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen?41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes?

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.44 And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.46 And when they sought to lay hold on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet.

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

1 Nowt when they approached Jerusalems and came to Bethphage,s at the Mount of Olives,s Jesus sent two disciples,2 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you.t Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.3 If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’s and he will send them at once.”

4 Thist took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:t

5 “Tell the people of Zion,t
‘Look, your king is coming to you,
unassuming and seated on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”t
6 Sot the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloakst on them, and he sat on them.8 At very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting,t “Hosannats to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!sHosanna in the highest!”10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar,t saying, “Who is this?”

11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareths in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

12 Thent Jesus entered the temple areats and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts,ts and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’s but you are turning it into a dentof robbers!”s
14 The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them.15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the lawt saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts,t “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?”s

17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

The Withered Fig Tree

18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.19 After noticing a fig treets by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once.20 When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”21 Jesust answered them, “I tell you the truth,t if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe,t you will receive.”

The Authority of Jesus

23 Now after Jesust entered the temple courts,t the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authorityt are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”24 Jesust answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?”ts They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.”

27 Sot they answered Jesus,t “We don’t know.”s Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell yous by what authorityt I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “Whatt do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’29 The boy answered,t ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heartt and went.30 The fathert went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered,t ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go.31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.”s Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth,t tax collectorss and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Althought you saw this, you did not later change your mindss and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landownert who planted a vineyard.s He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Thent he leased it to tenant farmerss and went on a journey.34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slavests to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.t35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one,s killed another, and stoned another.36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.37 Finally he sent his son to them,s saying, ‘They will respect my son.’38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’39 Sot they seized him,t threw him out of the vineyard,s and killed him.40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.ts
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?s
43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a peoplet who will produce its fruit.44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”ssts45 Whent the chief priests and the Phariseess heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.

46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowdst regarded him as a prophet.