²³ And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? ²⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one ^[a]question, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him? ²⁶ But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet. ²⁷ And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

²⁷ And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders; ²⁸ and they said unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? or who gave thee this authority to do these things? ²⁹ And Jesus said unto them, I will ask of you one ^[a]question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? answer me. ³¹ And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? ^32 [b]But should we say, From men—they feared the people: ^[c]for all verily held John to be a prophet. ³³ And they answered Jesus and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

20 And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the ^[a]gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; ² and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? ³ And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a ^[b]question; and tell me: ⁴ The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? ⁵ And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? ⁶ But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. ⁷ And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. ⁸ And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.