ESV

ESV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

Matthew 21 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles

The Triumphal Entry

(Mar 11:1–10; Luk 19:28–40; Jhn 12:12–19 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:1 - Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:2 - saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:3 - If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:4 - This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:5 - “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,[fn] the foal of a beast of burden.’”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:6 - The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:7 - They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:8 - Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:9 - And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:10 - And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:11 - And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

(Mar 11:15–19; Luk 19:45–48; Jhn 2:13–22 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:12 - And Jesus entered the temple[fn] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:13 - He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:14 - And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:15 - But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:16 - and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:17 - And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

(Mar 11:12–14 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:18 - In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:19 - And 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.
(Mar 11:20–24 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:20 - When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:21 - And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:22 - And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

(Mar 11:27–33; Luk 20:1–8 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:23 - And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:24 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:25 - The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:26 - But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:27 - 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

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:28 - “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:29 - And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:30 - And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:31 - Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:32 - For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

(Mar 12:1–12; Luk 20:9–19 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:33 - “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:34 - When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[fn] to the tenants to get his fruit.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:35 - And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:36 - Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:37 - Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:38 - But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:39 - And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:40 - When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:41 - They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:42 - Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[fn]
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:43 - Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:44 - And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:45 - When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 21:46 - And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
ESV Footnotes
Or donkey, and on a colt
Some manuscripts add of God
Or bondservants; also verses 35, 36
Greek the head of the corner
Some manuscripts omit verse 44
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
ESV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
ESV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

Matthew Chapter 21 — Additional Translations: