Matthew 21
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Triumphal Entry
21 When they approached Jerusalem(A) and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives,(B) Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 telling them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.’
4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5 Tell Daughter Zion,
‘See, your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt,
the foal of a donkey.’[a](C)
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted:
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord![b]
Hosanna in the highest heaven!(D)
10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, ‘Who is this? ’ 11 The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus(E) from Nazareth in Galilee.’
Cleansing the Temple
12 Jesus went into the temple[c](F) and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of those selling doves.(G) 13 He said to them, ‘It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer,[d] but you are making it a den of thieves! ’(H)[e]
Children Praise Jesus
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! ’ they were indignant 16 and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these children are saying? ’
Jesus replied, ‘Yes, have you never read:
17 Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany,(J) and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 Early in the morning,(K) as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again! ’ At once the fig tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly? ’
21 Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” it will be done.(L) 22 And if you believe, you will receive(M) whatever you ask for in prayer.’
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 When he entered the temple,(N) the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority? ’(O)
24 Jesus answered them, ‘I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin? ’
They discussed it among themselves, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say to us, “Then why didn’t you believe him? ”(P) 26 But if we say, “Of human origin,” we’re afraid of the crowd,(Q) because everyone considers John to be a prophet.’(R) 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t 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 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, “My son, go and work in the vineyard today.”(S)
29 ‘He answered, “I don’t want to,” but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. “I will, sir,” he answered, but he didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did his father’s will? ’
They said, ‘The first.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness,(T) and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner
33 ‘Listen(U) to another parable:(V) There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower.(W) He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.(X) 34 When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.(Y) 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said.
38 ‘But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.”(Z) 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers? ’
41 ‘He will completely destroy those terrible men,’ they told him, ‘and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.’(AA)
42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[h]
This is what the Lord has done
and it is wonderful in our eyes?(AB)[i]
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;(AC) but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.’[j]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,(AD) they knew he was speaking about them. 46 Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.(AE)
Matthew 21
Legacy Standard Bible
The Triumphal Entry
21 (A)And when they had approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at (B)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 (C)And this [a]took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
5 “(D)Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and mounted on a donkey,
And on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.’”
6 And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their garments on them; and He sat on [b]the garments. 8 And most of the crowd (E)spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 And the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were crying out, saying,
“Hosanna to the (F)Son of David;
(G)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the [c]Lord;
Hosanna (H)in the highest!”
10 And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is (I)the prophet Jesus, from (J)Nazareth in Galilee.”
Cleansing the Temple
12 (K)And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the (L)money changers and the seats of those who were selling (M)doves. 13 And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘(N)My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a (O)robbers’ [d]den.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and (P)He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things which He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, saying, “Hosanna to the (Q)Son of David,” they became indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘(R)Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to (S)Bethany, and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 (T)Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 And seeing a lone (U)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
20 And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, (V)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And (W)all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 (X)And when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him (Y)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one [e]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd; for they all regard John as (Z)a prophet.” 27 And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Parable of Two Sons
28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the (AA)vineyard.’ 29 And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; but he 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 that (AB)the tax collectors and prostitutes [f]will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but (AC)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even regret afterward so as to believe him.
Parable of the Vine-Growers
33 “Listen to another parable. (AD)There was a [g]landowner who (AE)planted a (AF)vineyard and put a [h]wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to [i]vine-growers and (AG)went on a journey. 34 Now when the [j]harvest time approached, he (AH)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he (AI)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the [k]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and (AJ)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(AK)The stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the chief corner stone;
This came about from the [l]Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation, producing the fruit of it. 44 And (AL)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He *was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to seize Him, they (AM)feared the crowds, because they were regarding Him to be a (AN)prophet.
Footnotes
- Matthew 21:4 Lit has happened
- Matthew 21:7 Lit them
- Matthew 21:9 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Ps 118:26
- Matthew 21:13 Lit cave
- Matthew 21:24 Lit word
- Matthew 21:31 Lit are getting into
- Matthew 21:33 Lit man, head of a household
- Matthew 21:33 Or fence
- Matthew 21:33 Or tenant farmers, so in vv 34, 35, 38, 40
- Matthew 21:34 Lit fruit season
- Matthew 21:40 Lit lord
- Matthew 21:42 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Ps 118:23
Matthew 21
International Children’s Bible
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King
21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. 2 He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell him, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’” 4 This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:
5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem,
‘Your king is coming to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey.
He is on the colt of a donkey.’” Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9
6 The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus. They laid their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on them. 8 Many people spread their coats on the road before Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. All the people were shouting,
“Praise[a] to the Son of David!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Psalm 118:26
Praise to God in heaven!”
10 Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. The city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”
11 The crowd answered, “This man is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus Goes to the Temple
12 Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. 13 Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’[b] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”[c]
14 The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and Jesus healed them. 15 The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things. They saw the children praising him in the Temple. The children were saying, “Praise[d] to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.
16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”
Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”[e]
17 Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Power of Faith
18 Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. 19 He saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” The tree immediately dried up.
20 His followers saw this and were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”
21 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
23 Jesus went to the Temple. While he was teaching there, the leading priests and the elders of the people came to Jesus. They said to him, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question, too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25 Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”
The priests and the leaders argued about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 26 But if we say, ‘It was from man,’ we are afraid of what the people will do because they all believe that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things!
A Story About Two Sons
28 “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son decided he should go, and he went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go. 31 Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. 32 John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw this, but you still refused to change and believe him.
God Sends His Son
33 “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the vineyard and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 34 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 35 But the farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. 36 So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to the servants that they had done before. 37 So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’ 38 But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then his vineyard will be ours!’ 39 So the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41 The priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’ Psalm 118:22-23
43 “So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things God wants in his kingdom. 44 The person who falls on this stone will be broken. But if the stone falls on him, he will be crushed.”[f]
45 The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew he was talking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
Footnotes
- 21:9, 15 Praise Literally, “Hosanna,” a Hebrew word used at first in praying to God for help. At this time it was probably a shout of joy used in praising God or his Messiah.
- 21:13 ‘My Temple . . . pray.’ Quotation from Isaiah 56:7.
- 21:13 ‘hideout for robbers.’ Quotation from Jeremiah 7:11.
- 21:9, 15 Praise Literally, “Hosanna,” a Hebrew word used at first in praying to God for help. At this time it was probably a shout of joy used in praising God or his Messiah.
- 21:16 ‘You . . . praises’ Quotation from the Septuagint (Greek) version of Psalm 8:2.
- 21:44 The . . . crushed. Some Greek copies do not have verse 44.
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