Matthew 21:18-46

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ¹In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ²he became hungry.

19 ³And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?"

21 And Jesus answered them, ⁴"Truly, I say to you, ⁵if you have faith and ⁶do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ⁷'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.

22 And ⁸whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ⁹if you have faith."

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ¹⁰And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ¹¹as he was teaching, and said, ¹²"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, ¹³from where did it come? ¹⁴From heaven or from man?" And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, ¹⁵'Why then did you not believe him?'

26 But if we say, 'From man,'¹⁶we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ¹⁷a prophet."

27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ¹⁸"What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in ¹⁹the vineyard today.'

29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he ²⁰changed his mind and went.

30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go.

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, ²¹the tax collectors and ²²the prostitutes go into ²³the kingdom of God before you.

32 For John came to you ²⁴in the way of righteousness, and ²⁵you did not believe him, but ²⁶the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ²⁷change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ²⁸"Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ²⁹a vineyard ³⁰and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ³¹leased it to tenants, and ³²went into another country.

34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ³³to get his fruit.

35 ³⁴And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ³⁵stoned another.

36 ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same 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 to themselves, ³⁷'This is the heir. Come, ³⁸let us kill him and have his inheritance.'

39 And they took him and ³⁹threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 ⁴⁰When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"

41 They said to him, ⁴¹"He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ⁴²let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."

42 Jesus said to them, ⁴³"Have you never read in the Scriptures: ⁴⁴"'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;^[b] this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ⁴⁵will be taken away from you and given to a people ⁴⁶producing its fruits.

44 And ⁴⁷the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ⁴⁸when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."^[c]

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.

46 And ⁴⁹although they were seeking to arrest him, ⁵⁰they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ⁵¹a prophet.