Mat 8, Mat 21 | ESV | STEP | When he came down from the mountain , great crowds followed him .

1 When he came down from the mountain, ^agreat crowds followed him. 2 ^bAnd behold, a leper ^{▼▼Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13} came to him and ^dknelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus ^{▼▼Greek he} stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, ^f“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^gshow yourself to the priest and ^hoffer the gift that Moses commanded, ⁱfor a proof to them.”

The Faith of a Centurion

5 ^jWhen he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but ^konly say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ^{▼▼Greek bondservant} ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, ^mhe marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with ⁿno one in Israel ^{▼▼Some manuscripts not even in Israel} have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, ^pmany will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 ^qwhile the sons of the kingdom ^rwill be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place ^sthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you ^tas you have believed.” ^uAnd the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

14 ^vAnd when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw ^whis mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He ^xtouched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were ^yoppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits ^zwith a word and healed all who were sick. 17 ^aaThis was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ^ab“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now ^acwhen Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^adhe gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 ^aeAnd a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^afthe dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

23 ^agAnd when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^ahhe was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, ^ai“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you ^ajafraid, ^akO you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^alrebuked the winds and the sea, and ^amthere was a great calm. 27 And the men ^anmarveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ^aowinds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

28 ^apAnd when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gerasenes} two ^ardemon-possessed ^{▼▼Greek daimonizomai; also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons} men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they ^atcried out, “What have you to do with us, ^auO Son of God? Have you come here to torment us ^avbefore the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the ^awdemon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, ^axthey begged him to leave their region.

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

1 ^ayNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^azthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^basent two disciples, 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place ^bbto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 ^bc“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
^bdhumble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, ^{▼▼Or donkey, and on a colt,} the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd ^bfspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^bg“Hosanna to ^bhthe Son of David! ^biBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^bjin the highest!” 10 And ^bkwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is ^blthe prophet Jesus, ^bmfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 ^bnAnd 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 ^bpthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^bqpigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ^br‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ^bsyou make it a den of robbers.”

14 ^btAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 ^buBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^bv“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; ^bwhave you never read,

^bx“‘Out of the mouth of ^byinfants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And ^bzleaving them, he ^cawent out of the city to ^cbBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ^ccIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^cdhe became hungry. 19 ^ceAnd 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, ^cf“Truly, I say to you, ^cgif you have faith and ^chdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^ci‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And ^cjwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^ckif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^clAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^cmas he was teaching, and said, ^cn“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, ^cofrom where did it come? ^cpFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^cq‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^crwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^csa 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.

The Parable of the Two Sons

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

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^dd“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^dea vineyard ^dfand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^dgleased it to tenants, and ^dhwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants; also verses 35, 36} to the tenants ^djto get his fruit. 35 ^dkAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^dlstoned another. 36 ^dmAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^dn‘This is the heir. Come, ^dolet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and ^dpthrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 ^dqWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, ^dr“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^dslet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, ^dt“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

^du“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ^{▼▼Greek the head of the corner}
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^dwwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^dxproducing its fruits. 44 And ^dythe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^dzwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit verse 44}

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And ^ebalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^ecthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^eda prophet.