Matthew 21

¹And when they were near Jerusalem, and had come to Beth-phage, to the Mountain of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

²Saying to them, Go into the little town in front of you, and straight away you will see an ass with a cord round her neck, and a young one with her; let them loose and come with them to me.

³And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, The Lord has need of them; and straight away he will send them.

⁴Now this took place so that these words of the prophet might come true,

⁵Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.

⁶And the disciples went and did as Jesus had given them orders,

⁷And got the ass and the young one, and put their clothing on them, and he took his seat on it.

⁸And all the people put their clothing down in the way; and others got branches from the trees, and put them down in the way.

⁹And those who went before him, and those who came after, gave loud cries, saying, Glory to the Son of David: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: Glory in the highest.

¹⁰And when he came into Jerusalem, all the town was moved, saying, Who is this?

¹¹And the people said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.

¹²And Jesus went into the Temple and sent out all who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those trading in doves.

¹³And he said to them, It is in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer, but you are making it a hole of thieves.

¹⁴And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the works of power which he did, and the children crying out in the Temple, Glory to the son of David, they were angry and said to him,

¹⁶Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?

¹⁷And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.

¹⁸Now in the morning when he was coming back to the town, he had a desire for food.

¹⁹And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead.

²⁰And when the disciples saw it they were surprised, saying, How did the fig-tree become dry in so short a time?

²¹And Jesus in answer said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, without doubting, not only may you do what has been done to the fig-tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and put into the sea, it will be done.

²²And all things, whatever you make request for in prayer, having faith, you will get.

²³And when he had come into the Temple, the chief priests and those in authority over the people came to him while he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority?

²⁴And Jesus said to them in answer, I will put one question to you, and if you give me the answer, I will say by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John, where did it come from? from heaven or from men? And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not have faith in him?

²⁶But if we say, From men; we are in fear of the people, because all take John to be a prophet.

²⁷And they made answer and said, We have no idea. Then he said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸But how does it seem to you? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go and do work today in the vine-garden.

²⁹And he said in answer, I will not: but later, changing his decision, he went.

³⁰And he came to the second and said the same. And he made answer and said, I go, sir: and went not.

³¹Which of the two did his father's pleasure? They say, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that tax-farmers and loose women are going into the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you had no faith in him, but the tax-farmers and the loose women had faith in him: and you, when you saw it, did not even have regret for your sins, so as to have faith in him.

³³Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country.

³⁴And when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get the fruit.

³⁵And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting another to death, and stoning another.

³⁶Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to them.

³⁷But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son.

³⁸But when the workmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death and take his heritage.

³⁹And they took him and, driving him out of the vine-garden, put him to death.

⁴⁰When, then, the lord of the vine-garden comes, what will he do to those workmen?

⁴¹They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready.

⁴²Jesus says to them, Did you never see in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord's doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes?

⁴³For this reason I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.

⁴⁴Any man falling on this stone will be broken, but he on whom it comes down will be crushed to dust.

⁴⁵And when his stories came to the ears of the chief priests and the Pharisees, they saw that he was talking of them.

⁴⁶And though they had a desire to take him, they were in fear of the people, because in their eyes he was a prophet.

Matthew 21

¹When they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

²saying to them, "Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me.

³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and immediately he will send them."

⁴This took place that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

⁵"Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

⁶The disciples went, and did just as Jesus directed them,

⁷and brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their clothes on them; and he sat on them.

⁸A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road.

⁹The multitudes who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

¹⁰When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"

¹¹The multitudes said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

¹²Jesus entered into the temple, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.

¹³He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers!"

¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the son of David!" they were indignant,

¹⁶and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?'"

¹⁷He left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.

¹⁸Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.

¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, "Let there be no fruit from you forever!" Immediately the fig tree withered away.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree immediately wither away?"

²¹Jesus answered them, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it would be done.

²²All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

²³When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?"

²⁴Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from man?" They reasoned with themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

²⁶But if we say, 'From man,' we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet."

²⁷They answered Jesus, and said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.'

²⁹He answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind, and went.

³⁰He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.

³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you did not even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

³³"Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went on a journey.

³⁴When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit.

³⁵The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way.

³⁷But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

³⁸But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.'

³⁹So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?"

⁴¹They told him, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season."

⁴²Jesus said to them, "Did you 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. It is marvelous in our eyes?'

⁴³"Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruit.

⁴⁴He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust."

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.

⁴⁶When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.