³⁷ But though He had performed so many ^[a]signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. ³⁸ This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “^(A)Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ “^(B)He has blinded their eyes and He ^(C)hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and ^[b]be converted, and so I will not heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because ^(D)he saw His glory, and ^(E)he spoke about Him. ⁴² Nevertheless ^(F)many, even of ^(G)the rulers, believed in Him, but ^(H)because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be ^(I)excommunicated from the synagogue; ^43 (J)for they loved the ^[c]approval of people rather than the ^[d]approval of God.

⁴⁴ Now Jesus cried out and said, “^(K)The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(L)the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ^46 (M)I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears My ^[e]teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for ^(N)I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ^48 (O)The one who rejects Me and does not ^[f]accept My ^[g]teachings has one who judges him: ^(P)the word which I spoke. That will judge him on ^(Q)the last day. ^49 (R)For I did not speak ^[h]on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me ^(S)has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that ^(T)His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak ^(U)just as the Father has told Me.”

^12 (A)On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. ¹³ Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

The Barren Fig Tree

^18 (A)Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a lone ^(B)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and ^[a]asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(C)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 ^(D)whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple

^15 (A)Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^[a]doves; ¹⁶ and He would not allow anyone to carry ^[b]merchandise through the temple grounds. ¹⁷ And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘^(B)My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? ^(C)But you have made it a den of robbers.” ¹⁸ And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they ^(D)began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all ^(E)the crowd was astonished at His teaching.

¹⁹ And ^(F)whenever evening came, ^[c]they would leave the city.

Cleansing the Temple

^12 (A)And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the ^(B)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(C)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘^(D)My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(E)den of robbers.”

¹⁴ And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and ^(F)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “^[a]Hosanna to the ^(G)Son of David,” they became indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘^(H)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to ^(I)Bethany, and spent the night there.

Traders Driven from the Temple

^45 (A)And Jesus entered the temple grounds and began to drive out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written: ‘^(B)And My house will be a house of prayer,’ ^(C)but you have made it a den of robbers.”

⁴⁷ And ^(D)He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people ^(E)were trying to put Him to death, ⁴⁸ and yet they could not find ^[a]anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to ^[b]every word He said.

^20 (A)As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹ And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “^(B)Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered and *said to them, “^(C)Have faith in God. ^23 (D)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him. ²⁴ Therefore, I say to you, ^(E)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. ²⁵ And whenever you ^(F)stand praying, ^(G)forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your ^[a]offenses. ²⁶ [^[b](H)But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your ^[c]offenses.”]

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²⁷ And they *came again to Jerusalem. ^(I)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders *came to Him, ²⁸ and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” ²⁹ But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹ And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the ^[d]people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. ³³ Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Authority Challenged

^23 (A)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[a]question, 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 considering the implications 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 ^[b]people; for they all regard John as ^(C)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”