Matthew Chapter 21
This Gospel quotes many texts from the Old Testament. It was primarily aimed at the Jewish public, for whom it presented Jesus as the promised Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures. Matthew tells the story of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection and places special emphasis on the teachings of the Master.
A Conservative Version
21 : 1 And when they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
21 : 2 saying to them, Go into the village opposite you, and straightaway ye will find a donkey tied, and a colt with it. Having loosed them, bring to me.
21 : 3 And if any man says anything to you, ye will say, The Lord has need of them, and straightaway he will send them.
21 : 4 Now all this came to pass, so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says,
21 : 5 Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King comes to thee, meek, and mounted upon a donkey, and a colt the foal of a pack animal.
21 : 6 And the disciples having gone, and having done as Jesus commanded them,
21 : 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their garments over them. And he sat upon them.
21 : 8 And the great multitude spread their garments on the road, and others cut down branches from the trees, and spread them on the road.
21 : 9 And the multitudes who went ahead and those who followed, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
21 : 10 And when he entered into Jerusalem, all the city was shaken, saying, Who is this?
21 : 11 And the multitudes said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.
21 : 12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who sold the doves.
21 : 13 And he says to them, It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer, but ye made it a den of robbers.
21 : 14 And the lame and the blind came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
21 : 15 But when the chief priests and the scholars saw the wonderful things that he did, and the boys crying out in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant,
21 : 16 and said to him, Do thou hear what these are saying? And Jesus says to them, Yes! Did ye never read, Out of the mouth of children and those who suckle thou have perfected praise?
21 : 17 And having left them behind, he went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.
21 : 18 Now early while returning to the city, he was hungry.
21 : 19 And having seen a fig tree, one on the way, he came to it, and found nothing on it, except leaves only. And he says to it, Let fruit no longer be produced from thee into the age. And immediately the fig tree dried out.
21 : 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How did the fig tree dry out immediately?
21 : 21 And having answered, Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye will not only do that of the fig tree, but even if ye may say to this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen.
21 : 22 And all things, as many as ye may ask in prayer, believing, ye will receive.
21 : 23 And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he taught, saying, By what authority do thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?
21 : 24 And having answered, Jesus said to them, I also will ask you one word, which if ye tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
21 : 25 The immersion of John, from where was it, from heaven or from men? And they deliberated with themselves, saying, If we should say, From heaven, he will say to us, Why then did ye not believe him?
21 : 26 But if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.
21 : 27 And having answered Jesus, they said, We know not. He said to them, And neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
21 : 28 But what does it seem to you? A man had two children. And having come to the first, he said, Child, go work today in my vineyard.
21 : 29 And having answered, he said, I do not want to, but having repented later, he went.
21 : 30 And having come to the second, he said likewise. And having answered, he said, I, sir, and did not go.
21 : 31 Which of the two did the will of the father? They say to him, The first. Jesus says to them, Truly I say to you, that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
21 : 32 For John came to you in a way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him. And having seen it, ye did not repent afterward to believe him.
21 : 33 Hear ye another parable. There was a certain man who was a house-ruler, who planted a vineyard, and placed a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and leased it to farmers, and went on a journey.
21 : 34 And when the time of the fruits approached, he sent his bondmen to the farmers to receive his fruits.
21 : 35 And the farmers having taken his bondmen, they beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
21 : 36 Again, he sent other bondmen more than the first, and they did to them in like manner.
21 : 37 But finally he sent to them his son, saying, They will be made ashamed by my son.
21 : 38 But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and possess his inheritance.
21 : 39 And having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
21 : 40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?
21 : 41 They say to him, Evil men, he will miserably destroy them, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will render him the fruits in their seasons.
21 : 42 Jesus says to them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone that those who build rejected, this came to be in the head of the corner. This happened from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
21 : 43 Because of this I say to you, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.
21 : 44 And he who falls on this stone will be shattered, but on whomever it may fall, it will grind him to dust.
21 : 45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he spoke about them.
21 : 46 And when they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him as a prophet.