Matthew 21

1. Now as they were approaching Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage, near the Mount of Olives; and Jesus sent two disciples,

2. Saying to them, “Go into the village, the one ahead of you, and immediately you shall find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.

3. And if anyone says anything to you, tell him, ‘The Lord has need of them.’ And he will send them at once.”

4. But this all took place so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5. “Say to the daughter of Sion, ‘Behold, your King comes to you, meek and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt the foal of a donkey.’ ”

6. And the disciples left, and did as Jesus had ordered them;

7. They brought the donkey and the colt, and put their garments upon them; and He sat on them.

8. And a great number of the multitude spread their garments on the road; and others were cutting down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.

9. And the multitudes, those who were going before and those who were following behind, were shouting, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!”

10. Now when He entered Jerusalem, the entire city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11. And the multitudes said, “This is Jesus the prophet, the One Who is from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12. And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple; and He overthrew the tables of the money exchangers, and the seats of those who were selling doves.

13. Then He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of thieves.”

14. And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

15. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children shouting in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant,

16. And said to Him, “Do You hear what they are saying?” Then Jesus said to them, “Yes! Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of little children and infants You have perfected praise’? ”

17. And leaving them, He went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

18. Now early in the morning, as He was coming back into the city, He hungered;

19. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves only. And He said to it, “Let there never again be fruit from you forever.” And immediately the fig tree dried up.

20. And after seeing it, the disciples were amazed, saying, “How quickly the fig tree has dried up!”

21. Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only shall you do the miracle of the fig tree, but even if you shall say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it shall come to pass.

22. And everything that you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”

23. Now when He entered the temple and was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him, saying, “By what authority do You do these things? And who gave You this authority?”

24. And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

25. The baptism of John, where did it come from? From heaven, or from men?” Then they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

26. But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude; for everyone holds John as a prophet.”

27. And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He said to them also, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

28. But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first one and said, ‘Son, go work in my vineyard today.’

29. And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterwards he repented and went.

30. Then he came to the second son and said the same thing. And he answered and said, ‘Sir, I will go‘; but he did not go.

31. Which of the two did the will of the father?” They said to Him, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “I tell you truly, the tax collectors and the harlots are going 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 the tax collectors and the harlots believed him. Yet you, after seeing this, did not afterwards repent and believe him.

33. Hear another parable: There was a certain man, 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 then leased it to husbandmen and left the country.

34. Now when the season of the fruits was drawing near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive his fruits.

35. But the husbandmen took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36. Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they did the same thing to them.

37. Then at last he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will have respect for my son.’

38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us murder him and gain possession of his inheritance.’

39. Then they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

40. Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?”

41. They said to Him, “Evil men! He will utterly destroy them, and he will lease his vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

42. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The Stone that the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?

43. Because of this, I say to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and it shall be given to a nation that produces the fruits of it.

44. And the one who falls on this Stone shall be broken; but on whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

45. Now after hearing His parables, the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that He was speaking about them.

46. And they sought to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the multitudes, because they held Him as a prophet.