Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

1  a Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to b the Mount of Olives, then Jesus c sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place d to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5  e “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
f humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, ▼
▼ Or donkey, and on a colt,
 the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd h spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting i “Hosanna to j the Son of David! k Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna l in the highest!” 10 And m when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is n the prophet Jesus o from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12  p And Jesus entered the temple ▼
▼ Some manuscripts add of God
 and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of r the money-changers and the seats of those who sold s pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written t ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but u you make it a den of robbers.”

14  v And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15  w But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple x “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; y have you never read,

z “‘Out of the mouth of aa infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”

17 And ab leaving them, he ac went out of the city to ad Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18  ae In the morning, as he was returning to the city af he became hungry. 19  ag And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, ah “Truly, I say to you ai if you have faith and aj do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain ak ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And al whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive am if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23  an And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ao as he was teaching, and said ap “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, aq from where did it come? ar From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us as ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ at we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was au a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28  av “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in aw the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ax changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you ay the tax collectors and az the prostitutes go into ba the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you bb in the way of righteousness, and bc you did not believe him, but bd the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward be change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33  bf “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted bg a vineyard bh and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and bi leased it to tenants, and bj went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants ▼
▼ Greek bondservants; also verses 35, 36
 to the tenants bl to get his fruit. 35  bm And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and bn stoned another. 36  bo Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves bp ‘This is the heir. Come bq let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and br threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40  bs When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, bt “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and bu let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, bv “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

bw “‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ▼
▼ Greek  the head of the corner

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God by will be taken away from you and given to a people bz producing its fruits. 44 And ca the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and cb when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” ▼
▼ Some manuscripts omit verse 44

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And cd although they were seeking to arrest him ce they feared the crowds, because they held him to be cf a prophet.

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