Luke 19:41-48

New Testament for Everyone

Jesus cleanses the Temple

⁴¹ When he came near and saw the city, he wept over it.

⁴² “If only you’d known,” he said, “on this day—even you!—what peace meant. But now it’s hidden, and you can’t see it. ⁴³ Yes, the days are coming upon you when your enemies will build up earthworks all round you, and encircle you, and squeeze you in from every direction. ⁴⁴ They will bring you crashing to the ground, you and your children within you. They won’t leave one single stone on another, because you didn’t know the moment when God was visiting you.”

⁴⁵ He went into the Temple and began to throw out the traders.

⁴⁶ “It’s written,” he said, “ ‘My house shall be a house of prayer; but you’ve made it a brigands’ cave.’ ”

⁴⁷ He was teaching every day in the Temple. But the chief priests, the scribes and the leading men of the people were trying to destroy him. ⁴⁸ They couldn’t find any way to do it, because all the people were hanging on his every word.