Matthew 21:18-23:26

New International Version

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree^(A)

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ 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.^(B)

²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,^(C) 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. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for^(D) in prayer.”

The Authority of Jesus Questioned^(E)

²³ 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^(F) are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ 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. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”^(G)

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “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.’^(H)

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors^(I) and the prostitutes^(J) are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,^(K) and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors^(L) and the prostitutes^(M) did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent^(N) and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants^(O)

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted^(P) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.^(Q) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.^{(R) 34} When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants^(S) to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(T) 36} Then he sent other servants^(U) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.^(V) Come, let’s kill him^(W) and take his inheritance.’^{(X) 39} So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”^(Y) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^(Z) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^(AB) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[b](AC)

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.^(AD)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet^(AE)

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like^(AF) a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants^(AG) to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then he sent some more servants^(AH) and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^(AI) and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners^(AJ) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,^(AK) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend^(AL)?’ The man was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^(AM)

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”^(AN)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(AO)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.^(AP) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[c](AQ) to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^(AR) and to God what is God’s.”

²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.^(AS)

Marriage at the Resurrection^(AT)

²³ That same day the Sadducees,^(AU) who say there is no resurrection,^(AV) came to him with a question. ²⁴ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.^{(AW) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ²⁷ Finally, the woman died. ²⁸ Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(AX) or the power of God. ³⁰ At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;^(AY) they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[d]?^(AZ) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

³³ When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.^(BA)

The Greatest Commandment^(BB)

³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,^(BC) the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law,^(BD) tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[e](BE) 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[f](BF) 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”^(BG)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?^(BH)

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,”^(BI) they replied.

⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

⁴⁵ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ⁴⁶ No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.^(BK)

A Warning Against Hypocrisy^(BL)(BM)

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law^(BN) and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.^(BO)

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see:^(BP) They make their phylacteries^[h](BQ) wide and the tassels on their garments^(BR) long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;^{(BS) 7} they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.^(BT)

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(BU) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(BV) 12} For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.^(BW)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!^(BX) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.^{(BY) [14] [i]}

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^(BZ) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^(CA) as you are.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides!^(CB) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’^{(CC) 17} You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?^{(CD) 18} You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(CE) 20} Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells^(CF) in it. ²² And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.^(CG)

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth^(CH) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^(CI) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides!^(CJ) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,^(CK) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{(CL) 26} Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.