Matthew 21:12–27

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12eAnd Jesus entered the temple² and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^gpigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ^h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ⁱyou make it a den of robbers.”

^14jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^lhave you never read,

^m“ ‘Out of the mouth of ⁿinfants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And ^oleaving them, he ^pwent out of the city to ^qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^she became hungry. ^19tAnd 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.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered them, ^u“Truly, I say to you, ^vif you have faith and ^wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And ^vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^yif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^aas he was teaching, and said, ^b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus 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. ²⁵The baptism of John, ^cfrom where did it come? ^dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^ga prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.