Jesus Goes to the Temple^(A)

¹² Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, ^13 (B)and said to them, “It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it a hideout for thieves!”

¹⁴ The blind and the crippled came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ The chief priests and the teachers of the Law became angry when they saw the wonderful things he was doing and the children shouting in the Temple, “Praise to David's Son!” ^16 (C)So they asked Jesus, “Do you hear what they are saying?”

“Indeed I do,” answered Jesus. “Haven't you ever read this scripture? ‘You have trained children and babies to offer perfect praise.’”

¹⁷ Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Goes to the Temple^(A)

¹⁵ When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, ¹⁶ and he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple courtyards. ^17 (B)He then taught the people: “It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.’ But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!”

¹⁸ The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, so they began looking for some way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples left the city.

Jesus Goes to the Temple^(A)

^13 (B)It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵ So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; ¹⁶ and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, “Take them out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!” ^17 (C)His disciples remembered that the scripture says, “My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire.”

¹⁸ The Jewish authorities came back at him with a question, “What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?”

^19 (D)Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again.”

²⁰ “Are you going to build it again in three days?” they asked him. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple!”

²¹ But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body. ²² So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had said.