0 SAB Matthew 21

Matthew

CHAPTER 21

Jesus rides into Jerusalem (on an ass and a colt)

1And 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.

When Jesus and his disciples neared Jerusalem, he sent two of his disciples, saying,
Go to the village.

When you find an ass and a colt 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.

If anyone says anything about it, say, "The Lord needs them."

And he'll send them right away.

4All 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.

This was done to fulfill the words of the prophet [1], saying

Behold, thy King comes to you, meek, and sitting on an ass and a colt.

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

The disciples did as Jesus commanded,

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

and brought an ass and a colt, put clothes on them,

and set Jesus on them. [2]

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.

A great crowd spread their clothes and branches in front of Jesus, and said,
Hosanna to the sons of David. Blessed is he that comes 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?

When he arrived in Jerusalem, everyone in the city said,
Who is this guy?

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

The crowd said,
This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth.
Jesus's temple tantrum

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,

Jesus went into the temple and threw out everyone who was buying and selling, toppling the tables of the money changers and those who sold doves. [3]

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.

And he said to them,
It is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." [4]

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

The blind and the lame came to Jesus 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,

The chief priests and scribes were displeased when they saw what Jesus did and heard the children saying, "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?

They said to Jesus, "Do you hear what they're saying?"

Jesus said, "Yes. Haven't you heard that babies and children will praise you?" [5]

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

Then Jesus left Jerusalem and went to Bethany.
Jesus kills a fig tree (by cursing it)
21:18-22, Cf. Mk 11:12-14, 20-24, Lk 13:6-9

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

The next morning, as Jesus returned to Jerusalem, he was 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.

When he saw a fig tree, he looked at it and found no fruit. So he said to the tree, "No fruit will ever grow on you."

And the tree died immediately. [6]

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

The disciples said, "Look how quickly the fig tree died!"

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.

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

Jesus said to them,
If you have faith and don't doubt, you'll not only kill fig trees, but cast mountains into the sea.

If you believe, whatever you ask for, you'll get.

Jesus stumps the chief priests and elders
21:23-27, Cf. Mk 11:27-33, Lk 20:1-8

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?

When Jesus went into the temple, the chief priests and elders came to him and said,
By what authority do you teach?

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.

Jesus said,
Let me ask you a question.

If you answer my question, I'll answer yours.

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.

Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?

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.

They said, "We can't tell."

Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you where I get my authority."

The parable of two sons
21:28-32

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

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders,

A man had two sons. He said to the first,

Go work in my vineyard.

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

The first son said, "No."

But later, he went to work.

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

Then the father asked his second son to go to work.

The second son said, "OK, I'll go to work." But he didn't.

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.

Which of the sons did the will of his father?

The chief priests and elders said, "The first son."

Jesus said,

The publicans and harlots will go into the kingdom of heaven before you, because John came to you and you didn't believe him, but the publicans and harlots believed him. And you never repented and began to believe him.
A parable about a vineyard
21:33-46, Cf. Mk 12:1-12, Lk 20:9-19

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:

Jesus said,
Hear another parable.

There was a man who owned a vineyard, and leased it to some tenants and went to another 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.

When it was time to harvest the fruit, he sent servants to the tenants to get the fruit.

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

The tenants beat one servant, killed another, and stoned another.

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

So the owner sent more servants, and the tenants did unto them likewise.

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

Finally, the owner sent his son, saying, "They'll respect my son."

38But 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.

But the tenants saw the owner's son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Let's kill him to get his inheritance."

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

And they 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?

What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do to the tenants?

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.

The chief priests and Pharisees said,
He will kill the tenants and lease his vineyard to others who will give him the fruit. [7]

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?

Jesus said to them,

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.

The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation that will bring fruits.

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

And whoever falls on that stone will be broken, and whoever the stones falls on will be ground into powder. [8]

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

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus's parables, they figured he was talking about them.

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

So they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds who thought he was a prophet.
«
»

Copyright © 1999-2024
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

Send comments to Steve Wells
at swwells(at)gmail.com