Matthew 21
1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Yahushua two disciples,
As [we] approached Jerusalem, we came near Bethphage [village], near Olive [Tree] Hill. Jesus said to two [of his] disciples, “Go to the village just ahead of us. As soon as you enter [it], you will see a donkey and her foal that are {someone has} tied [up]. Untie them and bring them [here] to me.
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, My master hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
If anyone says anything to you [about your doing that], tell [him], ‘The Lord needs them.’ He will [then allow you to] lead them away.”
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
When all this happened, what was written by a prophet {what a prophet wrote about} was fulfilled {happened}. The prophet wrote, “Tell the people who live in Jerusalem [SYN], ‘Look! Your king is coming to you! He will come humbly. He [will show that he is humble, because he will be] riding on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.’”
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Yahushua commanded them,
So the [two] disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do.
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
They brought the donkey and its colt [to Jesus]. They placed their cloaks on them [to make something for him to sit on]. Then Jesus [mounted the colt] and sat on the cloaks.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
Then a large crowd spread [some of] their clothing on the road, and other [people] cut off branches from [palm] trees and spread them on the road. [They did those things to decorate the road in order to honor Jesus].
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of YHWH; Hosanna in the highest.
The crowds that walked in front of him and those who walked behind him were shouting things like, “Praise the [Messiah], the descendant of [King] David!” “May the Lord [God] bless [this one] who comes as [God’s] representative and with [God’s] authority [MTY].” “Praise God, who is in the highest [heaven]!”
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, a crowd of people [MTY] from all [over the city] became excited and were saying, “Why [are they honoring] this man [like that]?”
11 And the multitude said, This is Yahushua the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
The crowd [that was already following him] said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee!”
12 And Yahushua went into the temple of Elohim, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Then Jesus went into the Temple [courtyard] and chased out all of those who were buying and selling things there. He also overturned the tables of those who were giving [Temple tax money in exchange for Roman] coins, and he overturned the seats of those who were selling pigeons [for sacrifices].
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Then he said to them, “It is {([Jeremiah/A prophet]) has} written [in the Scriptures that God said], ‘[I want] my house to be called a place where [people] pray’, but you bandits have made it [MET] your hideout!”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
After that, [many] blind [people] and lame [people] came to Jesus in the temple [in order that he would heal them], and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
The high priests and the men who taught the people the [Jewish] laws saw the wonderful deeds that Jesus did. [They also saw and] heard the children shouting in the Temple, “We praise the [Messiah], the descendant of [King] David!” The religious leaders were indignant [because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah].
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Yahushua saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
[They thought that Jesus should not be allowing the children to say that], so they asked him, “[How can you tolerate] this [RHQ]? Do you hear what these [children] are shouting?” Then Jesus said to them, “Yes, I [hear them, but] if you [remembered what] you have read [in the Scriptures about children praising me, you would know that God is pleased] [RHQ] [with them]. [The psalmist] wrote, [saying to God], ‘You have taught infants and other children to praise you perfectly.’”
17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Then Jesus left the city. We [disciples] went [with him] to Bethany [town], and we slept there [that night].
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Early [the next morning], when we were returning to the city, [Jesus] was hungry.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. (aiōn g165)
He saw a fig tree near the road. [So he went over to it to pick some figs to eat]. But when he got close, he saw that there were no [figs on the tree]. There were only leaves on it. So [to illustrate how God would punish the nation of Israel], he said to the fig tree, “May you never again produce figs!” As a result, the fig tree withered that night. (aiōn g165)
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
[The next day] when we disciples saw [what had happened to the tree], we marveled, and we said [to Jesus], “(It is astonishing that the fig tree withered so quickly!/How is it that the fig tree dried up so quickly?)” [RHQ]
21 Yahushua answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Jesus said to us, “Think about this: If you believe [that God has power to do what you ask him to] and you do not doubt [that], you will be able to do [things like what I have] done to this fig tree. You will even be able to do [marvelous deeds like] saying to a nearby hill, ‘Uproot yourself and throw yourself into the sea’, and it will happen!
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
In addition [to that], whenever you ask [God for something] when you pray [to him, if you] believe [that he will give it to you], you will receive [it from him].”
23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
After that, Jesus went into the Temple [courtyard]. While he was teaching [the people], the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish Council approached him. They asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do what you did [here yesterday] [DOU]?”
24 And Yahushua answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and if you answer me, I will tell you who authorized me to do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
Where did John [the Baptizer] get [his authority to] baptize [those who came to him]? [Did he get it] from God or from people? [MTY/EUP]” The chief priests and elders debated among themselves [about what they should answer]. [They said to each other], “If we say, ‘[It was] [MTY/EUP] from God’, he will say to us, ‘Then (you should have believed his [message]!/why did you not believe [John’s message]?) [RHQ]’
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
If we say, ‘It was from people’, we are afraid that the crowd [will react violently], because all [the people] believe that John was a prophet [sent by God].”
27 And they answered Yahushua, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know [where John got his authority].” Then he said to them, “[Because you did not answer my question], I will not tell you who authorized me to do the things I did [here yesterday].”
28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
[Then Jesus said to the chief priests and elders], “Tell me [RHQ] what you think [about what I am about to tell you]. There was a man who had two sons. He went to his older son and said, ‘My son, go and work in my vineyard today!’
29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
But the son said [to his father], ‘I do not want to [go and work in your vineyard today]!’ But later he changed his mind, and he went to the vineyard [and worked].
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Then the father approached his younger son and said what he had said to his older son. That son said, ‘Sir, I will [go and work in the vineyard today.’] But he did not go there.
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Yahushua saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of Elohim before you.
So which of the man’s two sons did what their father desired?” They answered, “The older son.” Jesus [explained to them what that parable meant] by saying, “Think about this: [It is more likely that other people, including] tax collectors and prostitutes, [whom you think are very sinful], will enter where God rules, than it is that you [Jewish leaders] will enter.
32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
I [say this to you] because, even though John [the Baptizer] explained to you how to live righteously, you did not believe his message. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed his [message, and they turned away from their sinful behavior]. In contrast, you, even though you saw what they did, refused to turn away from your sinful behavior, and you did not believe [John’s message].”
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
“Listen to another parable [that I will tell you]. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it. He dug a hole in the ground [inside the fence]. He placed [in the hole] a stone tank to [collect the juice that would be] pressed out of the grapes. He also built a tower [inside that fence that someone would sit in to guard that vineyard]. He arranged for some men [to care for] the vineyard [and to give him some of the grapes in return]. Then he went away to another country.
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
When it was time to harvest the grapes, the landowner sent some of his servants to the men who were taking care of the vineyard to get his share of the grapes [that the vineyard had produced].
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
But the renters seized the servants. They beat one of them, they killed another one, and [killed] another one of them [by throwing] stones at him.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
[So the landowner] sent more servants than [he had sent] the first [time]. The renters treated those servants the same way that [they had treated the other servants].
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Later, [knowing this], [the landowner] sent his son to [the renters to get his share of the grapes]. When he sent him, he said [to himself], ‘They will certainly respect my son [and give him some of the grapes].’
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
But when the renters saw his son [arriving], they said to each other, ‘This is the man who will inherit [this vineyard]! Let’s kill him and divide the property [among ourselves].’
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
So they grabbed him, dragged him outside the vineyard, and killed him.
40 When the master therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
[Now I ask you], when the landowner returns to his vineyard, what [do you think] he will do to those renters?”
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
[The chief priests and elders] replied, “He will thoroughly destroy those wicked [renters]! Then he will rent the vineyard to others. They will give him [his share of] the grapes when they are ripe.”
42 Yahushua saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is YHWH 's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Jesus said to them, “[That is right, so you need to think carefully about these words which] you have read [RHQ] in the Scriptures: The builders rejected a certain stone. [But others put] that same stone [in its proper place, and it] has become the most important stone [of the] building [MET]. The Lord has done this, and we marvel as we look at it.
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of Elohim shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
So, [because you reject me], I am going to tell you this: God will no longer let you [Jews] be the people over whom he rules. Instead, he will let [non-Jews] be the people over whom he rules, and they will do [IDM] what he asks them to do.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
[The important stone in the building represents me, the Messiah, and those who reject me are like people who fall on this stone]. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken into pieces {This cornerstone will break into pieces anyone who falls on it}, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
When the chief priests and the [elders who were] Pharisees heard this parable, they realized that he was accusing them [because they did not believe that he was the Messiah].
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
They wanted to seize him, but [they did not do so] because they were afraid of what the crowds [would do if they did that], because [the crowds] considered that Jesus was a prophet.
