| 21 | Matthew | ||
| 1 | THEY WERE NOW nearing Jerusalem; and when they reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples | The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Mt.21.1-11 (Jerusalem) -[ Mt.21.1-11 → ] - Mk.11.1-11, Lk.19.28-38, Jn.12.12-19 | |
| 2 | with these instructions: 'Go to the village opposite, where you will at once find a donkey tethered with her foal beside her; untie them, and bring them to me. | ||
| 3 | If anyone speaks to you, say, "Our Master needs them"; and he will let you take them at once.' | ||
| 4 | This was in fulfilment of the prophecy which says, | ||
| 5 | 'Tell the daughter of Zion, "Here is your king, who comes to you in gentleness, riding on an ass, riding on the foal of a beast of burden." ' | - Tell the daughter of Zion Mt.21.5 - Is.62.11, Zch.9.9 | |
| 6 | The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed, | ||
| 7 | and brought the donkey and her foal; they laid their cloaks on them and Jesus mounted. | ||
| 8 | Crowds of people carpeted the road with their cloaks, and some cut branches from the trees to spread in his path. | ||
| 9 | Then the crowd that went ahead and the others that came behind raised the shout: 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the heavens!' | - Hosanna to the Son of David Mt.21.9 - Ps.118.26 | |
| 10 | When he entered Jerusalem the whole city went wild with excitement. 'Who is this?' people asked, | ||
| 11 | and the crowd replied, 'This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.' | ||
| 12 | Jesus then went into the temple and drove out all who were buying and selling in the temple precincts; he upset the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the dealers in pigeons; | The Cleansing of the Temple. Mt.21.12-17 (Jerusalem) -[ Mt.21.12-17 → ] - Mk.11.15-19, Lk.19.45-48, Jn.2.13-22 | |
| 13 | and said to them, 'Scripture says, "My house shall be called a house of prayer"; but you are making it a robbers' cave.' | - My house shall be called a house of prayer Mt.21.13 - Is.56.7, Is.60.7, Jr.7.11 | |
| 14 | In the temple blind men and cripples came to him, and he healed them. | ||
| 15 | The chief priests and doctors of the law saw the wonderful things he did, and heard the boys in the temple shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!', and indignantly, | ||
| 16 | and they asked him indignantly, 'Do you hear what they are saying?' Jesus answered, 'I do; have you never read that text, "Thou hast made children and babes at the breast sound aloud thy praise"?' | - Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Mt.21.16 - Ps.8.2 | |
| 17 | Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. | ||
| 18 | Next morning on his way to the city he felt hungry; | The Cursing of the Fig Tree Mt.21.18-22 (Mount of Olives) -[ Mt.21.18-22 → ] - Mk.11.12-14, Mk.11.20-24 | |
| 19 | and seeing a fig-tree at the roadside he went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, 'You shall never bear fruit any more!'; and the tree withered away at once. | ||
| 20 | The disciples were amazed at the sight. 'How is it', they asked, 'that the tree has withered so suddenly?' | ||
| 21 | Jesus answered them, 'I tell you this: if only you have faith and have no doubts, you will do what has been done to the fig-tree; and more than that, you need only say to this mountain, "Be lifted from your place and hurled into the sea" | ||
| 22 | And whatever you pray for in faith you will receive.' | ||
| 23 | He entered the temple, and the chief priests and elders of the nation came to him with the question: 'By what authority are you acting like this? Who gave you this authority?' | The Authority of Jesus Questioned Mt.21.23-27 (Jerusalem) -[ Mt.21.23-27 → ] - Mk.11.27-33, Lk.20.1-8 | |
| 24 | Jesus replied, 'I have a question to ask too; answer it, and I will tell you by what authority I act. | ||
| 25 | The baptism of John: was it from God, or from men?' This set them arguing among themselves: 'If we say, "from God", he will say, "Then why did you not believe him?" | ||
| 26 | But if we say, "from men", we are afraid of the people, for they all take John for a prophet.' | ||
| 27 | So they answered, 'We do not know.' And Jesus said: 'Then neither will I tell you by what authority I act. | ||
| 28 | 'But what do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first, and said, "My boy, go and work today in the vineyard." | The Parable of the Two Sons Mt.21.28-32 (Jerusalem) - | |
| 29 | "I will, sir", the boy replied; but he never went. | ||
| 30 | The father came to the second and said the same. "I will not", he replied, but afterwards he changed his mind and went. | ||
| 31 | Which of these two did as his father wished?' 'The second', they said. Then Jesus answered, 'I tell you this: tax-gatherers and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. | ||
| 32 | For when John came to show you the right way to live, you did not believe him, but the tax-gatherers and prostitutes did; and even when you had seen that, you did not change your minds and believe him. | ||
| 33 | 'Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard: he put a wall round it, hewed out a winepress, and built a watch-tower; then he let it out to vine-growers and went abroad. | The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants Mt.21.33-46 (Jerusalem) -[ Mt.21.33-46 → ] - Mk.12.1-12, Lk.20.9-19 | |
| 34 | When the vintage season approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect the produce due to him. | ||
| 35 | But they took his servants and thrashed one, killed another, and stoned a third. | ||
| 36 | Again, he sent other servants, this time a larger number; and they did the same to them. | ||
| 37 | At last he sent to them his son. "They will respect my son", he said. | ||
| 38 | But when they saw the son the tenants said to one another, "This is the heir; come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance." | ||
| 39 | And they took him, flung him out of the vineyard, and killed him. | ||
| 40 | When the owner of the vineyard comes, how do you think he will deal with those tenants?' | ||
| 41 | 'He will bring those bad men to a bad end', they answered, 'and hand the vineyard over to other tenants, who will let him have his share of the crop when the season comes.' | ||
| 42 | Then Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the main corner-stone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes"? | ||
| 43 | Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation that yields the proper fruit.'" | - the kingdom of God ... given to a nation producing the fruits Mt.21.43 - Ps.118.22-23 | |
| 44 | |||
| 45 | When the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they saw that he was referring to them; | ||
| 46 | they wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the people, who looked on Jesus as a prophet. | ||
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