Matthew 21
21
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”#21:5 Zech. 9:9
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna#21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15 to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”#21:9 Psalm 118:25,26
“Hosanna#21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15 in the highest heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus at the Temple
12Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’#21:13 Isaiah 56:7 but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’#21:13 Jer. 7:11”
14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“ ‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’ # 21:16
Psalm 8:2
(see Septuagint) ?”
17And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
18Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ # 21:42
Psalm 118:22,23 ?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”#21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
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Matthew 21: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Matthew 21
21
1And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, unto the mount of the Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2saying to them, ‘Go on to the village over-against you, and immediately ye shall find an ass bound, and a colt with her — having loosed, bring ye to me;
3and if any one may say anything to you, ye shall say, that the lord hath need of them, and immediately he will send them.’
4And all this came to pass, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5‘Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Lo, thy king doth come to thee, meek, and mounted on an ass, and a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.’
6And the disciples having gone and having done as Jesus commanded them,
7brought the ass and the colt, and did put on them their garments, and set [him] upon them;
8and the very great multitude spread their own garments in the way, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and were strewing in the way,
9and the multitudes who were going before, and who were following, were crying, saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.’
10And he having entered into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’
11And the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus the prophet, who [is] from Nazareth of Galilee.’
12And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and did cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers he overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves,
13and he saith to them, ‘It hath been written, My house a house of prayer shall be called, but ye did make it a den of robbers.’
14And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them,
15and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ were much displeased;
16and they said to him, ‘Hearest thou what these say?’ And Jesus saith to them, ‘Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?’
17And having left them, he went forth out of the city to Bethany, and did lodge there,
18and in the morning turning back to the city, he hungered,
19and having seen a certain fig-tree on the way, he came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and he saith to it, ‘No more from thee may fruit be — to the age;’ and forthwith the fig-tree withered.
20And the disciples having seen, did wonder, saying, ‘How did the fig-tree forthwith wither?’
21And Jesus answering said to them, ‘Verily I say to you, If ye may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig-tree shall ye do, but even if to this mount ye may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it shall come to pass;
22and all — as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’
23And he having come to the temple, there came to him when teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people, saying, ‘By what authority dost thou do these things? and who gave thee this authority?’
24And Jesus answering said to them, ‘I will ask you — I also — one word, which if ye may tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things;
25the baptism of John, whence was it? — from heaven, or from men?’ And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, ‘If we should say, From heaven; he will say to us, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him?
26and if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.’
27And answering Jesus they said, ‘We have not known.’ He said to them — he also — ‘Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
28‘And what think ye? A man had two children, and having come to the first, he said, Child, go, to-day be working in my vineyard.’
29And he answering said, ‘I will not,’ but at last, having repented, he went.
30‘And having come to the second, he said in the same manner, and he answering said, I [go], sir, and went not;
31which of the two did the will of the father?’ They say to him, ‘The first.’ Jesus saith to them, ‘Verily I say to you, that the tax-gatherers and the harlots do go before you into the reign of God,
32for John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him, and the tax-gatherers and the harlots did believe him, and ye, having seen, repented not at last — to believe him.
33‘Hear ye another simile: There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and did put a hedge round it, and digged in it a wine-press, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad.
34‘And when the season of the fruits came nigh, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it,
35and the husbandmen having taken his servants, one they scourged, and one they killed, and one they stoned.
36‘Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in the same manner.
37‘And at last he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son;
38and the husbandmen having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance;
39and having taken him, they cast [him] out of the vineyard, and killed him;
40whenever therefore the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to these husbandmen?’
41They say to him, ‘Evil men — he will evilly destroy them, and the vineyard will give out to other husbandmen, who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.’
42Jesus saith to them, ‘Did ye never read in the Writings, A stone that the builders disallowed, it became head of a corner; from the Lord hath this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
43‘Because of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit;
44and he who is falling on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.’
45And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard his similes, knew that of them he speaketh,
46and seeking to lay hold on him, they feared the multitudes, seeing they were holding him as a prophet.
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