Matthew 21
Tree of Life Version
Baruch Ha-Ba! Blessed Is He Who Comes!
21 Now as they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Yeshua sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village before you. Right away, you’ll find a donkey tied up and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Master needs them.’ And right away he will send them.”
4 This happened to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘See, your King is coming to you,
humble and sitting on a donkey,
a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
6 The disciples went and did as Yeshua had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and colt and put their clothing on them, and He sat on the clothing. 8 Most of the crowd spread their clothing on the road, and others began cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 The crowds going before Him and those following kept shouting, saying,
“Hoshia-na to Ben-David!
Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hoshia-na in the highest!”[b]
10 When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Yeshua, from Natzeret in the Galilee.”
12 Then Yeshua entered the Temple[c] and drove out all those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers[d] and the seats of those selling doves. [e] 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’[f] but you are making it ‘a den of thieves’!”[g]
14 The blind and lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the ruling kohanim and Torah scholars saw the wonders He performed, and the children crying out in the Temple and saying, “Hoshia-na to Ben-David,” they became indignant. 16 And they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Yeshua said to them. “Haven’t you ever read,
‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing toddlers
You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”[h]
17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He spent the night there.
Faith Moves Mountains
18 Now early in the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came up to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree shriveled up at once.
20 When the disciples saw it they were astonished. “How did the fig tree shrivel on the spot?” they asked.
21 Yeshua answered them, “Amen, I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, trusting, you shall receive.”
Questions about Yeshua’s Authority
23 Now when He entered the Temple, the ruling kohanim and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, saying, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?”
24 Yeshua replied to them, “I also will ask you one question. If you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 John’s immersion, where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
They began to dialogue among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd, for all hold up John as a prophet.” 27 So answering Yeshua, they said, “We don’t know.”
Then He said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
A Parable about Intentions and Actions
28 “Now what do you think? A man had two sons, and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I won’t,’ but afterward he had a change of heart and went. 30 The man went to the second son and said the same thing. But he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ and didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did the will of the father?”
“The first,” they said.
Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and even after you saw this, you had no change of heart to believe him.”
Parable of the Vineyard
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a master of a household who planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower.[i] Then He leased it to some tenant farmers and went on a journey. 34 Now when fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 But grabbing his servants, the tenants beat up one, killed another, and stoned still another. 36 Again the master sent other servants, even more than the first, and they did the same thing to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So grabbing him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the master of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those miserable men to a miserable end,” they said to Him, “and will lease the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the fruits in their seasons.” 42 Yeshua said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures[j]?
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the chief cornerstone.
This came from Adonai,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.’[k]
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people producing its fruits. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be shattered; but the one upon whom it falls, it will crush him.”[l]
45 When the ruling kohanim and Pharisees heard Yeshua’s parables, they realized He was talking about them. 46 Although they were trying to seize Him, they feared the crowds, because they regarded Him as a prophet.
Footnotes
- Matthew 21:5 Isa. 62:11; Zech. 9:9(9:9 LXX); cf. Gen. 49:10-11.
- Matthew 21:9 cf. Ps. 118:25-26.
- Matthew 21:12 Some mss. add: of God.
- Matthew 21:12 cf. Deut. 14:24-26.
- Matthew 21:13 cf. Lev. 1:14; 5:7; 12:8.
- Matthew 21:13 Isa. 56:7.
- Matthew 21:13 Jer. 7:11.
- Matthew 21:16 Ps. 8:3(2).
- Matthew 21:33 cf. Isa. 5:1-2.
- Matthew 21:42 Lit. Writings.
- Matthew 21:42 Ps. 118:22-23 (117:22-23 LXX).
- Matthew 21:44 cf. Isa. 28:16; Dan. 2:34, 44-45. Some manuscripts omit verse 44.
Matthew 21
King James Version
21 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two 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.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
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.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
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.
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.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of 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,
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.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he 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,
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?
17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
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.
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
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.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall 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?
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.
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?
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for 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.
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.
29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
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.
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.
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:
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.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence 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.
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
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.
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?
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.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.