God's New Bible

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞

- Chapter 21 -

(Zechariah 9:9–13; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19)
1
And when they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2
saying to them, “Go on into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey bound, and a colt with her—having loosed, you bring to Me;
3
and if anyone may say anything to you, you will say that the LORD has need of them, and immediately He will send them.”
4
And all this came to pass, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5
“Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and mounted on a donkey, and a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.”
6
And the disciples having gone and having done as Jesus commanded them,
7
brought the donkey and the colt, and put on them their garments, and set [Him] on them;
8
and the very great multitude spread their own garments in the way, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and were strewing in the way,
9
and the multitudes who were going before, and who were following, were crying, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who is coming in the Name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”
10
And He having entered into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
11
And the multitudes said, “This is Jesus the prophet, who [is] from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

(Mark 11:15–19; Luke 19:45–48; John 2:12–25)
12
And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers He overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves,
13
and He says to them, “It has been written: My house will be called a house of prayer; but you made it a den of robbers.”
14
And there came to Him blind and lame men in the temple, and He healed them,
15
and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” were much displeased;
16
and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these say?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes, did you never read, that, Out of the mouth of babies and sucklings You prepared praise?”
17
And having left them, He went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there,

The Barren Fig Tree

(Mark 11:12–14; Mark 11:20–25)
18
and in the morning turning back to the city, He hungered,
19
and having seen a certain fig tree on the way, He came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and He says to it, “No more fruit may be from you—throughout the age”; and instantly the fig tree withered.
20
And the disciples having seen, wondered, saying, “How did the fig tree instantly wither?”
21
And Jesus answering said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig tree will you do, but even if to this mountain you may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it will come to pass;
22
and all—as much as you may ask in the prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

(Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8)
23
And He having come into the temple, there came to Him when teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people, saying, “By what authority do You do these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24
And Jesus answering said to them, “I will ask you—I also—one word, which if you may tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things;
25
the immersion of John, from where was it? From Heaven, or from men?” And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, From Heaven, He will say to us, Why, then, did you not believe him?
26
And if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.”
27
And answering Jesus they said, “We have not known.” He said to them—He also, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28
And what do you think? A man had two children, and having come to the first, he said, Child, go, today be working in my vineyard.
29
And he answering said, I will not, but at last, having regretted, he went.
30
And having come to the second, he said in the same manner, and he answering said, I [go], lord, and did not go;
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 prostitutes go before you into the Kingdom of God,
32
for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, and the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and you, having seen, did not regret at last—to believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

(Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–18)
33
Hear another allegory: There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug in it a winepress, and built a tower, and gave it out to farmers, and went abroad.
34
And when the season of the fruits came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive the fruits of it,
35
and the farmers having taken his servants, one they scourged, and one they killed, and one they stoned.
36
Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in the same manner.
37
And at last he sent to them his son, saying, They will respect my son;
38
and the farmers having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance;
39
and having taken him, they cast [him] out of the vineyard, and killed him;
40
whenever therefore the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to these farmers?”
41
They say to Him, “Evil men—he will grievously destroy them, and will give out the vineyard to other farmers who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.”
42
Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Writings: A stone that the builders disallowed, it became head of a corner; from the LORD has this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes?
43
Because of this I say to you that the Kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit;
44
and he who is falling on this stone will be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.”
45
And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard His allegories, knew that He speaks of them,
46
and seeking to lay hold on Him, they feared the multitudes, seeing they were holding Him as a prophet.
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press and the CCC - licensed under CC BY-SA
(Zechariah 9:9–13; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19)
1
When they came near to Jerusalem and came to Bethsphage,(a) to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2
saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
4
All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5
“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(b)
6
The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them,
7
and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them.
8
A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9
The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna (c) to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (d)
10
When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11
The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

(Mark 11:15–19; Luke 19:45–48; John 2:12–25)
12
Jesus entered into the temple of God and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.
13
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ (e) but you have made it a den of robbers!” (f)
14
The lame and the blind came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
15
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant,
16
and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing babies, you have perfected praise’?” (g)
17
He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.

The Barren Fig Tree

(Mark 11:12–14; Mark 11:20–25)
18
Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.
19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
20
When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?”
21
Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done.
22
All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

(Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8)
23
When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24
Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25
The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26
But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.”
27
They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28
But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
29
He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went.
30
He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
31
Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you.
32
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

(Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–18)
33
“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country.
34
When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit.
35
The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36
Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way.
37
But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
38
But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’
39
So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him.
40
When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
41
They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”
42
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’? (h)
43
“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
44
He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
45
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.
46
When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.

Footnotes

(a)21:1 TR &NU read “Bethphage” instead of “Bethsphage”
(b)21:5 ℘ Zechariah 9:9
(c)21:9 “Hosanna” means “save us” or “help us, we pray”.
(d)21:9 ℘ Psalms 118:26
(e)21:13 ℘ Isaiah 56:7
(f)21:13 ℘ Jeremiah 7:11
(g)21:16 ℘ Psalms 8:2
(h)21:42 ℘ Psalms 118:22-23
⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞