Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

¹ And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² Saying to them, Be going into the village opposite you and straightway you will find [an] ass tied and [a] colt with her. Having loosed [them] bring [them] to me. ³ And if anyone say anything to you, say that: The Lord has need of them. And immediately he sent them. ⁴ And this is come to pass in order that what was spoken through the prophet be fulfilled when he says:

⁵ Say to the daughter of Zion
Behold her king comes to her
Gentle and riding on [an] ass
And upon [a] colt, the foal of [an] ass.

⁶ And the disciples having gone and having done as Jesus directed them, ⁷ they brought the ass and the colt, and placed on them their garments, and he sat upon them. ⁸ And [a] very great crowd spread their garments in the way, others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the way. ⁹ And the crowd going before him and following were crying out saying¹:

Hosanna² to the son of David
Blessed is he coming in the name of [the] Lord
Hosanna in the highest.

¹⁰ And when he entered into Jerusalem the entire city shook saying: Who is this? ¹¹ And the crowd was saying: This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

Cleansing the Temple

¹² And Jesus entered into the temple, and threw out all those selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, ¹³ And he says to them: It is written: My house will be called [a] house of prayer, but you make it [a] den of thieves.

¹⁴ And the blind and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children crying out in the temple and saying: Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant, ¹⁶ and said to him: Do you hear what these say? And Jesus says to them: Yes, Have you never read that³:

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants I will prepare praise?

¹⁷ And leaving them he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

The Withered Fig Tree

¹⁸ Now returning to the city early, he hungered. ¹⁹ And seeing one fig tree on the road he came to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only, and he says to it: No longer shall fruit grow on you for eternity. And immediately the fig tree withered. ²⁰ And when the disciples saw they marveled saying: How is the fig tree immediately withered? ²¹ Jesus answering said to them: Truly I say to you, If you have belief and do not doubt, not only this of the fig tree will you do, but if you say to this mountain: Be taken and be thrown into the sea, it will come to pass. ²² And everything that you ask⁴ in prayer, believing, you will receive.

The Authority of Jesus

²³ And when he came into the temple, while he was teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him saying: By what authority do you do these things? And who gave this authority to you? ²⁴ And answering Jesus said to them: And I will ask⁵ you one question that if you tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ Whence was John the Baptist? From heaven or from men? And they considered among themselves saying: If we say: From heaven, he will say to us: Why then did you not believe him? ²⁶ But if we say: From man, we fear the crowd, for all hold John as prophet. ²⁷ And answering Jesus they said: We do not know. And he says to them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these [things].

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ But how does it seem to you? [a] man had two sons. Coming to the first he said: Son, be going today, be working in the vineyard. ²⁹ But answering he says: I will not, but later repenting he went. ³⁰ Coming to the second he said likewise. And answering he said: I will Lord, and went not. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father? They say: The first. Jesus says to them: Truly I say to you that the tax-collectors and the harlots will precede you into the kingdom of God. ³² For John came to you in the way of justice and you believed him not, but the tax-collectors and the harlots believed him. But you when you saw neither repented later that [You] might believe in him.

The Parable of the Tenants

³³ Hear another parable. [There was a] man [who] was Lord of the house who planted a vineyard and built [a] fence around it, and dug [a] winepress in it and built [a] tower and leased it to vinedressers and went on [a] journey. ³⁴ Now when the time⁶ of the fruits drew near, he sent his slaves to the vinedressers to be taking his fruit. ³⁵ And taking his slaves the vinedressers beat one and killed another and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves more than the first, and they did to them likewise. ³⁷ And later he sent to them his son saying: They will respect my son. ³⁸ But the vinedressers seeing the son said among themselves: This is the heir. Come let us kill him and we will have his inheritance. ³⁹ And taking him they threw him out of the vineyard and killed [him]. ⁴⁰ When therefore the Lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? ⁴¹ They say to him: He will badly destroy those evil [ones], and he will lease the vineyard to other vinedressers, who give him the fruits in their own seasons⁶. ⁴² Jesus says to them: Have you never read in the scriptures⁷:

The stone that the builders rejected
This became the head of the cornerstones.
By the Lord this came to pass
And is a wonder in our eyes.

⁴³ Because of this I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to [a] nation producing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And the [one] falling on this stone will be dashed to pieces, and upon whom it falls, it will crush him.⁸ ⁴⁵ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard his parable they knew that he speaks concerning them. ⁴⁶ And though seeking to lay hold of him, they feared the crowds, because they were holding him as prophet.

¹Ps.118:25–26

²Hebrew: "Help" or "Save I pray"

³Ps.8:2

⁴AITEO "ay-TEH-oh" (αιτεω) "request", "demand", "beg" something for oneself. Far from humbly requesting—it's more like 'demanding'. Jesus uses AITEO only of the prayer of others, not of His own (cf. John.16:26)—and not requesting things for Himself, only for others. AITEO seems to suppose a lesser degree of intimacy than EROTAO (ερωταω), hence AITEO is used of the requests of the disciples to God, but EROTAO of the requests of the disciples to Jesus, and of those of Jesus to the Father ( John.14:16). AITEO is demanding/begging/pleading, EROTAO is polite and friendlier. Both AITEO and EROTAO occur in John.16:26.

⁵EROTAO (ερωταω) "Ask", but more polite, not demanding/begging as is AITEO. Both AITEO and EROTAO occur in John.16:26.

⁶KAIROS (καιρoς ) `opportune time', `proper time', `season'

⁷Ps.118:22

⁸include vs 44: ℵBW K vg; omit vs 44: D