Chapter 21

1As they approached Jerusalem and reached Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples ahead.

2Jesus told them, “Go into the village in front of you. You will immediately find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to me.”

3Jesus continued, “If anyone says anything to you, say, ‘The Master needs them,’ and the person will send them immediately.”

4This happened to bring about what God had said through the prophet:

5“Tell the people of Jerusalem: Your king is coming to you. He is gentle and riding on a donkey—on a colt, the young donkey of a pack animal.”

6The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus had instructed them to do.

7They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks across them. Jesus sat on the cloaks.

8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

9The crowds walking ahead of Jesus and those following behind kept shouting, “Save us, Son of David! God’s favor is on the one who comes with his authority! Let the cry ‘Save us!’ rise to highest heaven!”

10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. People asked, “Who is this?”

11The crowds answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

12Jesus entered the temple grounds and drove out everyone buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the people who exchanged money and the seats of those selling doves for offerings.

13Jesus told them, “The sacred writings say, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a cave where robbers hide.”

14Blind people and people who could not walk came to Jesus in the temple grounds, and he healed them.

15The leading priests and the teachers of the Jewish Law saw the wonderful things Jesus did. They also heard the children in the temple grounds shouting, “Save us, Son of David!” This made the leaders angry.

16They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes. Haven’t you ever read, ‘You have arranged for infants and nursing babies to praise you’?”

17Then Jesus left them, went outside the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

18Early the next morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, he became hungry.

19He saw a fig tree beside the road and went over to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to the tree, “May you never produce fruit again!” The fig tree immediately dried up.

20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

21Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth: if you trust God and do not doubt, you will not only do what happened to this fig tree. You could even say to this mountain, ‘Rise up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and it would happen.”

22Jesus continued, “If you believe as you pray, you will receive whatever you ask for.”

23Jesus entered the temple grounds and began teaching. The leading priests and the community leaders came to him and asked, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

24Jesus answered, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

25Jesus asked, “Where did John’s authority to immerse people in water come from? Did it come from God or from human beings?” The leaders reasoned among themselves, “If we say, ‘From God,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’”

26They continued their discussion: “But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ we have the crowd to fear, because everyone considers John a prophet.”

27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus replied, “Then I will not tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

28Jesus continued, “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’”

29The first son answered, “I don’t want to.” But later he changed his mind and went.

30The father went to his second son and said the same thing. The son answered, “Yes, sir, I will,” but he did not go.

31Jesus asked, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” The leaders answered, “The first.” Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth: tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom—coming under his rule—ahead of you.”

32Jesus continued, “John came to you showing the right way to live, but you did not believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even after you saw that, you still did not change your minds and believe him.”

33Jesus said, “Listen to another story with a deeper meaning. A landowner planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing grapes, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenant farmers and traveled away.”

34Jesus continued the story: “When harvest time approached, the owner sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his share of the crop.”

35The tenant farmers seized the slaves. They beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

36The owner sent another group of slaves, larger than the first, but the tenant farmers treated them in the same way.

37Finally, the owner sent his son to them, thinking, “They will respect my son.”

38But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to one another, “This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.”

39They seized the son, threw him outside the vineyard, and killed him.

40Jesus asked, “When the vineyard’s owner returns, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”

41The leaders answered, “He will bring those evil men to a terrible end. Then he will rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him his share of the crop at the proper times.”

42Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the sacred writings, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. God did this, and it is amazing to us’?”

43Jesus continued, “That is why I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people who produce its fruit.”

44Jesus concluded, “Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and anyone on whom it falls will be crushed to dust.”

45When the leading priests and the religious group known as the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories, they realized that he was speaking about them.

46They wanted to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowds because the people considered him a prophet.