Matthew
21
- As they approached Jerusalem and came to
Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
- saying to them, "Go to the village
ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt
by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
- If anyone says anything to you, tell him
that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
- This took place to fulfill what was spoken
through the prophet:
- "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.'"
- The disciples went and did as Jesus had
instructed them.
- They brought the donkey and the colt, placed
their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
- A very large crowd spread their cloaks on
the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the
road.
- The crowds that went ahead of him and those
that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
- When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole
city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
- The crowds answered, "This is Jesus,
the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
- Jesus entered the temple area and drove
out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the
money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
- "It is written," he said to them,
"'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a
'den of robbers.'"
- The blind and the lame came to him at the
temple, and he healed them.
- But when the chief priests and the teachers
of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the
temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.
- "Do you hear what these children are
saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you
never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained
praise'?"
- And he left them and went out of the city
to Bethany, where he spent the night.
- Early in the morning, as he was on his way
back to the city, he was hungry.
- Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up
to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May
you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
- When the disciples saw this, they were amazed.
"How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
- Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth,
if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the
fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into
the sea,' and it will be done.
- If you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer."
- Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while
he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.
"By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And
who gave you this authority?"
- Jesus replied, "I will also ask you
one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing
these things.
- John's baptism--where did it come from?
Was it from heaven, or from men?" They discussed it among themselves
and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you
believe him?'
- But if we say, 'From men'--we are afraid
of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."
- So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these
things.
- "What do you think? There was a man
who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in
the vineyard.'
- "'I will not,' he answered, but later
he changed his mind and went.
- "Then the father went to the other
son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.
- "Which of the two did what his father
wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I
tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the
kingdom of God ahead of you.
- For John came to you to show you the way
of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and
the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe
him.
- "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 watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers
and went away on a journey.
- When the harvest time approached, he sent
his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
- "The tenants seized his servants; they
beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
- Then he sent other servants to them, more
than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.
- Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They
will respect my son,' he said.
- "But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take
his inheritance.'
- So they took him and threw him out of the
vineyard and killed him.
- "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
- "He will bring those wretches to a
wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other
tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."
- Jesus said to them, "Have you never
read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become
the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
- "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.
- He who falls on this stone will be broken
to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
- When the chief priests and the Pharisees
heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them.
- They looked for a way to arrest him, but
they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
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