Matthew - Chapter 21

1 And when he approached Yerushalayim, and came to Beit-Pageh, on the side of Har-Zeitim*, Yeshua sent two of his talmidim; 2 and said to them: "Go into this village that is before you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, tell him: 'they are needed for our Master;' and he will send them here immediately."

4 And all this happened so that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken through the prophet, saying:

5 "Say to the daughter of Tzion: 'Behold! Your king comes to you, meek, and sitting on a donkey, and on a colt the foal of a donkey."*

6 And the talmidim left, and they did as Yeshua commanded them. 7 And they brought the donkey and the colt. And they placed their garments on the colt, and set Yeshua upon it. 8 And several large crowds spread their clothing along the road while others were cutting branches from the trees, and cast them on the road. 9 The crowds that went in front of him, and that followed after him, cried out saying: "Hosanna to Bar David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Mar-Yah! Hosanna in the highest!"

10 And as he entered Yerushalayim, all within the city were stirred up; and they said: "Who is this?" 11 And the crowds were saying: "This is Yeshua, the prophet who is of Nasrat Galil."

12 And Yeshua entered into the Temple of God, and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the Temple, and he overturned the table of the moneychangers, and the chairs of those who were selling doves. 13 And there was light coming forth from his eyes and he said to them: "It is written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer'; but you have made it a cave of thieves."*

14 And the blind and the lame drew near to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and Pharisees saw the miracles* that he did, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying: "Hosanna to Bar David", they were not pleased. 16 And they said to him: "Do you hear what they are saying?" Yeshua said to them: "Yes. Have you never read that from out of the mouth of children and infants you have acquired* praise?"

17 And he left them, and went outside of the city to Beit-Ani, and lodged there.

18 And in the morning, when he returned to the city, he hungered. 19 And he saw a certain fig tree on the side of the road, and came to it but did not find anything on it except leaves. And he said to it: "Let there never be fruit on you again." And the fig tree withered straight away. 20 And the talmidim saw this, and were amazed, and were saying: "How quickly the fig tree withered!"

21 Yeshua replied and said to them: "Truly I say to you, that if you have faith without doubt, you may not only do this miracle concerning the fig tree, even if you shall say to this mountain: 'be lifted up, and fall into the sea,' it will happen. 22 And everything that you ask for in prayer, and believe, you will receive."

23 And when Yeshua came to the Temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching, and said to him: "By what authority do you do these things? And who gave this authority to you?" 24 Yeshua answered and said to them: "I will also ask you a question, and if you will answer me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of Yokhanan, from where was it? Is it from heaven, or from men?" And they were reasoning among themselves, and were saying: "If we should say [[it is]] from heaven, he will say to us, 'Why did you not believe in him?' 26 And if we should say [[it is]] from men; we are afraid of the crowd, for they all regard Yokhanan as a prophet."

27 And they answered, and said to him: "We do not know." Yeshua said to them: "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what do you perceive of this? A certain man had two sons; and he drew near to the first one and said to him: 'My son, go today and labour in the vineyard.' 29 But he answered and said, 'I do not wish to.' But later on he regretted it and went. 30 And he drew near to the other, and said the same thing to him. And he answered and said: 'I will, my master', but did not go. 31 Which of these two did the will of his father?" They said to him: "The first." Yeshua said to them: "Truly I say to you that tax collectors and prostitutes will precede you into the Kingdom of God. 32 For Yokhanan came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him; but you, after you saw this, even then you did not repent and believe in him.

33 "Hear another parable. There was a certain man, the master of a house, who planted a vineyard, making a fence around it, and he dug a winepress in it, and constructed a tower in it, and leased it to labourers, and went on a journey. 34 And when the time for the harvest arrived, he sent his servants out to the labourers that they might remit to him of the fruit of his vineyard. 35 And the labourers took his servants, and some they beat, and some they stoned and some they murdered. 36 And again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent to them his son saying: 'Perhaps they will have respect for my son.'*

38 But the labourers, when they saw the son, said among themselves: 'This is the heir; come and let us take him and murder him, to obtain his inheritance.' 39 And after grabbing hold of him, took him outside the vineyard, and murdered him. 40 Therefore, when the master of the vineyard comes, what should he do to those labourers?" 41 They said to him: "He should absolutely destroy them; and will lease the vineyard to other labourers, who will give to him the fruit in its season."

42 Yeshua said to them: "Have you never read in the Scripture: 'The stone that was rejected by the builders became the head of the corner; this is from the presence of Mar-Yah; and it is marvellous in our eyes'?*

43 "Therefore I say to you, that the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a people who bear fruit. 44 And whoever falls upon this stone, will be broken; and anyone it falls upon it will crush."

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they understood that he spoke against them. 46 And they wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet.