MatthewChapter 21

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¹They came near Jerusalem. They came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent out two disciples. ²He said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you. Right away you will find a donkey tied there with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone asks you about it, tell him that the Lord needs them. Then he will send them right away." ⁴This happened to make come true what was spoken through the prophet: ⁵"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'Look, your King is coming to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the young of a donkey.'" ⁶So the disciples went and did what Jesus had told them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt. They laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸A huge crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹Some of the crowds went ahead of him, and some followed. They were all shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"a ¹⁰Jesus entered Jerusalem. The whole city was stirred up. People asked, "Who is this?" ¹¹The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." ¹²Then Jesus went into the temple courts. He drove out all who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the money changers. He turned over the seats of those selling doves. ¹³He said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer.' But you are making it 'a den of robbers.'" ¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵But the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things he did. They also saw the children shouting in the temple courts, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" This made them angry. ¹⁶"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," Jesus answered. "Haven't you ever read this? 'You have made children and babies sing your praise.'" ¹⁷Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany. He spent the night there. ¹⁸In the morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was hungry. ¹⁹He saw a fig tree by the road. He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. "May you never bear fruit again!" he said to it. And right away the tree dried up. ²⁰The disciples saw this, and they were amazed. They asked, "How did the fig tree dry up so fast?" ²¹"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "if you have faith and do not doubt, you will do what was done to the fig tree. And you will do even more. Even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for when you pray." ²³Jesus went back to the temple courts and began to teach. The chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him. "What right do you have to do these things?" they asked. "Who gave you this right?" ²⁴"I will ask you one question too," Jesus answered. "If you answer me, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. ²⁵Where did John's baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or from people?" They talked it over among themselves. They said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' ²⁶But if we say, 'From people,' we are afraid of the crowd. They all think John was a prophet." ²⁷So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said, "Then I won't tell you what right I have to do these things either. ²⁸But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first one and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹'I won't,' the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰Then the father went to the second son and said the same thing. 'I will, sir,' he answered. But he did not go. ³¹Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²John came to show you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. ³³Listen to another parable. A landowner planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress and built a tower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a trip. ³⁴Harvest time came near. So he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit. ³⁵But the farmers grabbed his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶Again, he sent other servants to them, more than the first time. But the farmers did the same to them. ³⁷Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. ³⁸But the farmers saw the son. They said to each other, 'This is the one who will get the vineyard someday. Come, let's kill him and take what he would get.' ³⁹So they grabbed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then they killed him. ⁴⁰So when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those farmers?" ⁴¹"He will put those evil men to a terrible death," they answered. "Then he will rent the vineyard to other farmers. They will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time." ⁴²Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read this in the Scriptures?
'The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
The Lord has done this,
and it is wonderful to see.' ⁴³So I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. But anyone it falls on will be crushed." ⁴⁵The chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables. They knew Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowds, because the people believed he was a prophet.