Matthew 21

¹Matthew 21:1. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,²Matthew 21:2. saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.³Matthew 21:3. If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”⁴Matthew 21:4. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:⁵Matthew 21:5. “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”⁶Matthew 21:6. So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.⁷Matthew 21:7. They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.⁸Matthew 21:8. A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.⁹Matthew 21:9. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”¹⁰Matthew 21:10. When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”¹¹Matthew 21:11. The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹²Matthew 21:12. Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.¹³Matthew 21:13. And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹⁴Matthew 21:14. The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.¹⁵Matthew 21:15. But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”¹⁶Matthew 21:16. “Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”¹⁷Matthew 21:17. Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.

¹⁸Matthew 21:18. In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry.¹⁹Matthew 21:19. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.²⁰Matthew 21:20. When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”²¹Matthew 21:21. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “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.²²Matthew 21:22. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

²³Matthew 21:23. When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”²⁴Matthew 21:24. “I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.²⁵Matthew 21:25. What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?” They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’²⁶Matthew 21:26. But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”²⁷Matthew 21:27. So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²⁸Matthew 21:28. But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’²⁹Matthew 21:29. ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.³⁰Matthew 21:30. Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.³¹Matthew 21:31. Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.³²Matthew 21:32. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

³³Matthew 21:33. 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 tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.³⁴Matthew 21:34. When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.³⁵Matthew 21:35. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.³⁶Matthew 21:36. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.³⁷Matthew 21:37. Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.³⁸Matthew 21:38. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’³⁹Matthew 21:39. So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.⁴⁰Matthew 21:40. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”⁴¹Matthew 21:41. “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”⁴²Matthew 21:42. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?⁴³Matthew 21:43. 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.⁴⁴Matthew 21:44. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”⁴⁵Matthew 21:45. When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.⁴⁶Matthew 21:46. Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.