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Matthew 21:12-46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Matthew 21:12-46
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12 Then Jesus entered the temple[a] and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.(A) 13 He said to them, “It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’
but you are making it a den of robbers.”(B)
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did and heard[b] the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry(C) 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise for yourself’?”(D)
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18 In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.(E) 22 Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”(F)
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”(G) 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for all regard John as a prophet.”(H) 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’(I) 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father[c] went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.(J) 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him.(K)
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away.(L) 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.(M) 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.(N) 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. 37 Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’(O) 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”(P)
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[d]
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?(Q)
43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits.(R) 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”[e]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.(S)
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Matthew 21:12-46
New International Version
Matthew 21:12-46
New International Version
Jesus at the Temple(A)
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying(B) and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers(C) and the benches of those selling doves.(D) 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a](E) but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”(F)
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.(G) 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,”(H) they were indignant.(I)
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany,(K) where he spent the night.
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree(L)
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.(M)
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,(N) 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(O) in prayer.”
The Authority of Jesus Questioned(P)
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(Q) 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.”(R)
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.’(S)
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(T) and the prostitutes(U) are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,(V) and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors(W) and the prostitutes(X) did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent(Y) and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants(Z)
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted(AA) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.(AB) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.(AC) 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants(AD) to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.(AE) 36 Then he sent other servants(AF) 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.(AG) Come, let’s kill him(AH) and take his inheritance.’(AI) 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,”(AJ) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,(AK) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[d]?(AL)
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you(AM) 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.”[e](AN)
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.(AO)
Footnotes
- Matthew 21:13 Isaiah 56:7
- Matthew 21:13 Jer. 7:11
- Matthew 21:16 Psalm 8:2 (see Septuagint)
- Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22,23
- Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.