1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

3 But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”

5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

1 One day Jesus was in the Temple, teaching the people and telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and elders came up to talk with him, 2 saying, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

3 Jesus answered, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”

5 They argued about this, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they believe John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they didn’t know where it came from.

8 Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

1 And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; 2 and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? 6 But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

1 And it came to pass on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and announcing the glad tidings, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up, 2 and spoke to him saying, Tell us by what authority thou doest these things, or who is it who has given thee this authority? 3 And he answering said to them, I also will ask you one thing, and tell me: 4 The baptism of John, was it of heaven or of men? 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say, Why have ye not believed him? 6 but if we should say, Of men, the whole people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, they did not know whence. 8 And Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

1 One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courtyard and telling them the Good News. The chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came up to him. 2 They asked him, “Tell us, what gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?” 

3 Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. Tell me, 4 did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?” 

5 They talked about this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘from humans,’ everyone will stone us to death. They’re convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they didn’t know who gave John the right to baptize. 

8 Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.” 

1 One day as He was teaching the people in the temple complex and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came up 2 and said to Him: “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Who is it who gave You this authority?”

3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell Me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

5 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered that they did not know its origin.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

1 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” 3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” 5 They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

1 And it happened that on one of the days while he was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders 2 and said, saying to him, “Tell us, by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority? 3 And he answered and said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? 5 And they discussed this with one another, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 And they replied that they did not know where it was from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

1 One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courtyard. He was preaching the good news to them.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law came up to him. The elders came with them. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they all said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4 was John’s baptism from heaven? Or did it come from men?”

5 They talked to each other about it. They said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will throw stones at us and kill us. They believe that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know where John’s baptism came from.”

8 Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I am doing these things either.”

1 On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

2 and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

3 Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me:

4 “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

5 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’

6 “But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”