Matthew, 21

1. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

1. When they drew near Jerusalem and arrived at Bethphage, on the mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,

2. Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose [them], and bring [them] unto me.

2. saying, "Go to the village in front of you, and there you will find a donkey tied up with its colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

3. And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

3. If anyone says something to you, say: The Lord needs them but he will send them back immediately."

4. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

4. This happened in fulfillment of what the prophet said:

5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

5. Say to the daughter of Zion: See, your king comes to you in all simplicity, riding on a donkey, a beast of burden, with its colt.

6. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

6. The disciples went as Jesus had instructed them,

7. And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set [him] thereon.

7. and they brought the donkey with its colt. Then they threw their cloaks on its back, and Jesus sat on them.

8. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed [them] in the way.

8. Many people also spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

9. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

9. The people who walked ahead of Jesus and those who followed him began to shout: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, glory in the highest!"

10. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

10. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was disturbed. The people asked, "Who is this man?"

11. And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

11. And the crowd answered, "This is the Prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee."

12. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

12. So Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all who were buying and selling in the temple area. He overturned the tables of the money changers, and the stools of those who sold pigeons.

13. And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

13. And he said to them, "It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a den of thieves."

14. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

14. The blind and the lame also came to him in the Temple and Jesus healed them.

15. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

15. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law saw the wonderful things Jesus had just done, and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"

16. And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

16. They became indignant and said to Jesus, "Do you hear what they say?" Jesus answered them, "Yes. Have you never read this text: From the mouths of children and infants you have got perfect praise?"

17. And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

17. So leaving them he went out of the city and came to Bethany where he spent the night.

18. Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

18. While returning to the city early in the morning, Jesus felt hungry.

19. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

19. He noticed a fig tree by the road, went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. Then he said to the tree, "Never again bear fruit!" And immediately, the fig tree withered.

20. And when the disciples saw [it], they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

20. When the disciples saw this, they were astonished and they said, "How did the fig tree suddenly dry up!"

21. Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this [which is done] to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

21. Jesus told them, "Truly, I say to you: if you had faith and did not doubt, not only could you do what I have done with the fig tree, but you could even say to that mountain: 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' and it would be done.

22. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

22. Whatever you ask for in prayer full of faith, you will receive."

23. And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

23. Jesus had entered the Temple and was teaching when the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the Jewish authorities came to him and asked, "What authority have you to act like this? Who gave you authority to do all this?"

24. And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

24. Jesus answered them, "I will also ask you a question, only one. And if you give me an answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. When John began to baptize, was it a work of God, or was it merely something human?"

25. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

25. They reasoned out among themselves, "If we reply that it was a work of God, he will say: Why, then, did you not believe him?

26. But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

26. And if we say: The baptism of John was merely something human, beware of the people: since all hold John as a prophet."

27. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

27. So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what right I do these things."

28. But what think ye? A [certain] man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

28. Jesus went on to say, "What do you think of this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said to him: 'Son, today go and work in my vineyard.'

29. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

29. And the son answered: 'I don't want to.' But later he thought better of it and went.

30. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I [go], sir: and went not.

30. Then the father went to the second and gave him the same command. This son replied: 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go.

31. Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

31. Which of the two did what the father wanted?" They answered, "The first." And Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you: the publicans and the prostitutes are ahead of you on the way to the kingdom of heaven.

32. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen [it], repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

32. For John came to show you the way of goodness but you did not believe him, yet the publicans and the prostitutes did. You were witnesses of this, but you neither repented nor believed him.

33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

33. Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants and then went to a distant country.

34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

34. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest.

35. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

35. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned another.

36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

36. Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way.

37. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

37. Finally, he sent his son, thinking: 'They will respect my son.'

38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

38. But when the tenants saw the son, they thought: 'This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and his inheritance will be ours.'

39. And they caught him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him].

39. So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

40. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?"

41. They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

41. They said to him, "He will bring those evil to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him in due time."

42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

42. And Jesus replied, "Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone. This was the Lord's doing; and we marvel at it.

43. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

43. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest.

44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

44. (Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will ground to dust on whom it falls.)"

45. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

45. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them.

46. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

46. They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd who regarded him as a prophet.