Matthew 21

₁Now when 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 in front of 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 he will send them at once.” ₄This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

₁₂And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ₁₃He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

₁₄And the 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 out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ₁₆and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

₁₈In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. ₁₉And 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.

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

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

₂₈“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ₂₉And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. ₃₀And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ₃₁Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go 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. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

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

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

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