Matthew 21-24

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King^(A)

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into town. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey with her colt. Untie them both, and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell them, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’”

⁴ This showed the full meaning of what the prophet said:

⁶ The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the mother donkey and the young donkey to him. They covered the donkeys with their coats, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ On the way to Jerusalem, many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. They all shouted,

¹⁰ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. All the people in the city were confused. They asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowds following Jesus answered, “This is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple^(D)

¹² Jesus went into the Temple area. He threw out all those who were selling and buying things there. He turned over the tables that belonged to those who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹³ Jesus said to them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer.’^[c] But you are changing it into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’^[d]”

¹⁴ Some blind people and some who were crippled came to Jesus in the Temple area. Jesus healed them. ¹⁵ The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he was doing. And they saw the children praising him in the Temple area. The children were shouting, “Praise to the Son of David.” All this made the priests and the teachers of the law angry.

¹⁶ They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

He answered, “Yes. The Scriptures say, ‘You have taught children and babies to give praise.’^[e] Have you not read that Scripture?”

¹⁷ Then Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Shows the Power of Faith^(E)

¹⁸ Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree beside the road and went to get a fig from it. But there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again produce fruit!” The tree immediately dried up and died.

²⁰ When the followers saw this, they were very surprised. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up and die so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “The truth is, if you have faith and no doubts, you will be able to do the same as I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. ²² If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”

Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority^(F)

²³ Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ²⁵ Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”

The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ ²⁶ But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”

Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.

Jesus Uses a Story About Two Sons

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. ³² John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.

God Sends His Son^(G)

³³ “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and then left on a trip. ³⁴ Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes.

³⁵ “But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then stoned to death a third servant. ³⁶ So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they did the first time. ³⁷ So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’

³⁸ “But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ³⁹ So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”

⁴¹ The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to other farmers, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom. ⁴⁴ Whoever falls on this stone will be broken. And it will crush anyone it falls on.”^[f]

⁴⁵ When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to do anything, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

A Story About People Invited to a Dinner^(I)

22 Jesus used some more stories to teach the people. He said, ² “God’s kingdom is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. ³ He invited some people to the feast. When it was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people to come. But they refused to come to the king’s feast.

⁴ “Then the king sent some more servants. He said to them, ‘I have already invited the people. So tell them that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves to be eaten. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’

⁵ “But when the servants told the people to come, they refused to listen. They all went to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. ⁶ Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. ⁷ The king was very angry. He sent his army to kill those who murdered his servants. And the army burned their city.

⁸ “After that the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not good enough to come to my feast. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite everyone you see. Tell them to come to my feast.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike, and brought them to where the wedding feast was ready. And the place was filled with guests.

¹¹ “When the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in the right clothes for a wedding. ¹² The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes.’ But the man said nothing. ¹³ So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness, where people are crying and grinding their teeth with pain.’

¹⁴ “Yes, many people are invited. But only a few are chosen.”

The Jewish Leaders Try to Trick Jesus^(J)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to catch him saying something wrong. ¹⁶ They sent some men to Jesus. They were some of their own followers and some from the group called Herodians. They said, “Teacher, we know you are an honest man. We know you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what others think about you. All people are the same to you. ¹⁷ So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. So he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? ¹⁹ Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” They showed Jesus a silver coin. ²⁰ Then he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on the coin?”

²¹ They answered, “It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

²² When they heard what Jesus said, they were amazed. They left him and went away.

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(K)

²³ That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no one will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. ²⁴ They said, “Teacher, Moses told us that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother.^{[g] 25} There were seven brothers among us. The first brother married but died. He had no children. So his brother married the woman. ²⁶ Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother and all the other brothers. ²⁷ The woman was the last to die. ²⁸ But all seven men had married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “You are so wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know anything about God’s power. ³⁰ At the time when people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. Everyone will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ Surely you have read what God said to you about people rising from death. ³² God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^[h] So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people.”

³³ When the people heard this, they were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.

Which Command Is the Most Important?^(L)

³⁴ The Pharisees learned that Jesus had made the Sadducees look so foolish that they stopped trying to argue with him. So the Pharisees had a meeting. ³⁵ Then one of them, an expert in the Law of Moses, asked Jesus a question to test him. ³⁶ He said, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’^{[i] 38} This is the first and most important command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor^[j] the same as you love yourself.’^{[k] 40} All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.”

Is the Messiah David’s Son or David’s Lord?^(M)

⁴¹ So while the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. ⁴² He said, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

The Pharisees answered, “The Messiah is the Son of David.”

⁴³ Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David was speaking by the power of the Spirit. He said,

⁴⁵ David calls the Messiah ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

⁴⁶ None of the Pharisees could answer Jesus’ question. And after that day, no one was brave enough to ask him any more questions.

Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders^(O)

23 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He said, ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. ³ So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. ⁴ They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.

⁵ “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes^[m] they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels^[n] on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. ⁶ These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. ⁷ They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’

⁸ “But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all equal as brothers and sisters. You have only one Teacher. ⁹ And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. ¹⁰ And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Messiah. ¹¹ Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. ¹² People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.

¹³ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter. ^14 [o]

¹⁵ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites. You travel across the seas and across different countries to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him worse than you are. And you are so bad that you belong in hell!

¹⁶ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone uses the name of the Temple to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gold that is in the Temple to make a promise must keep that promise.’ ¹⁷ You are blind fools! Can’t you see that the Temple is greater than the gold on it? It’s the Temple that makes the gold holy!

¹⁸ “And you say, ‘If anyone uses the altar to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gift on the altar to make a promise must keep that promise.’ ¹⁹ You are blind! Can’t you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It’s the altar that makes the gift holy! ²⁰ Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar. ²¹ And anyone who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and God, who lives in it. ²² Whoever uses heaven to make a promise is using God’s throne and the one who is seated on it.

²³ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin.^[p] But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things. ²⁴ You guide the people, but you are blind! Think about a man picking a little fly out of his drink and then swallowing a camel! You are like that.^[q]

²⁵ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of what you got by cheating others and pleasing yourselves. ²⁶ Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean.

²⁷ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. ²⁸ It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.

²⁹ “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. And you show honor to the graves of the godly people who were killed. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill these prophets.’ ³¹ So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets. ³² And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started!

³³ “You are snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell! ³⁴ So I tell you this: I send to you prophets and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.

³⁵ “So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the killing of that godly man Abel. And you will be guilty for the killing of Zechariah^[r] son of Berachiah. He was killed between the Temple and the altar. You will be guilty for the killing of all the good people who lived between the time of Abel and the time of Zechariah. ³⁶ Believe me when I say that all these things will happen to you people who are living now.

Jesus Warns the People of Jerusalem^(P)

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me. ³⁸ Now your house will be left completely empty. ³⁹ I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’^[s]”

Jesus Warns About the Future^(Q)

24 Jesus left the Temple area and was walking away. But his followers came to him to show him the Temple’s buildings. ² He asked them, “Are you looking at these buildings? The fact is, they will be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

³ Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to prepare us for your coming and the end of time?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Be careful! Don’t let anyone fool you. ⁵ Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah.’ And they will fool many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁷ Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. ⁸ These things are only the beginning of troubles, like the first pains of a woman giving birth.

⁹ “Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and killed. People all over the world will hate you because you believe in me. ¹⁰ During that time many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong. ¹² There will be so much more evil in the world that the love of most believers will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And the Good News I have shared about God’s kingdom will be told throughout the world. It will be spread to every nation. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the terrible thing that causes destruction.’^[t] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) ¹⁶ “The people in Judea at that time should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷ They should run away without wasting time to stop for anything. If they are on the roof of their house, they must not go down to get anything out of the house. ¹⁸ If they are in the field, they must not go back to get a coat.

¹⁹ “During that time it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have small babies! ²⁰ Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, ²¹ because it will be a time of great trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again.

²² “But God has decided to make that terrible time short. If it were not made short, no one would continue living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen.

²³ “Someone might say to you at that time, ‘Look, there is the Messiah!’ Or someone else might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²⁴ False messiahs and false prophets will come and do great miracles and wonders,^[u] trying to fool the people God has chosen, if that is possible. ²⁵ Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

²⁶ “Someone might tell you, ‘The Messiah is there in the desert!’ But don’t go into the desert to look for him. Someone else might say, ‘There is the Messiah in that room!’ But don’t believe it. ²⁷ When the Son of Man comes, everyone will see him. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. ²⁸ It’s like looking for a dead body: You will find it where the vultures are gathering above.

²⁹ “Right after the trouble of those days, this will happen:

³⁰ “Then there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man is coming. All the people of the world will cry. Everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in the sky. He will come with power and great glory. ³¹ He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the earth.

³² “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is very near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time^[w] is very near, already present. ³⁴ I assure you that all these things will happen while some of the people of this time are still living. ³⁵ The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but my words will last forever.

Only God Knows When the Time Will Be^(R)

³⁶ “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when it will be. Only the Father knows.

³⁷ “When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as what happened during Noah’s time. ³⁸ In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married right up to the day Noah entered the boat. ³⁹ They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them all.

“It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ Two men will be working together in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a mill. One will be taken and the other will be left.

⁴² “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come. ⁴³ What would a homeowner do if he knew when a thief was coming? You know he would be ready and not let the thief break in. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him.

Good Servants and Bad Servants^(S)

⁴⁵ “Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. Who is the one the master trusts to do that work? ⁴⁶ When the master comes and finds that servant doing the work he gave him, it will be a day of blessing for that servant. ⁴⁷ I can tell you without a doubt, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns.

⁴⁸ “But what will happen if that servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon? ⁴⁹ He will begin to beat the other servants. He will eat and drink with others who are drunk. ⁵⁰ Then the master will come when the servant is not ready, at a time when the servant is not expecting him. ⁵¹ Then the master will punish that servant. He will send him away to be with the hypocrites, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.