¹⁸ The chief priests and legal experts heard this and tried to find a way to destroy him. They regarded him as dangerous because the whole crowd was enthralled at his teaching.

²⁸ They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

¹² They wanted to arrest Jesus because they knew that he had told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.