Mat 21:12-27 | ESV | STEP | And Jesus entered the temple 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 .

12 ^aAnd Jesus entered the temple ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add of God} and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^cthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^dpigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ^e‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ^fyou make it a den of robbers.”

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

^k“‘Out of the mouth of ^linfants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And ^mleaving them, he ⁿwent out of the city to ^oBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ^pIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^qhe became hungry. 19 ^rAnd 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.

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

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^yAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^zas he was teaching, and said, ^aa“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 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. 25 The baptism of John, ^abfrom where did it come? ^acFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^ad‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^aewe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^afa prophet.” 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.