Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18 1In the morning, as he was returning to the city,
2he became hungry.
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3And 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.
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When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?"
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And Jesus answered them,
4"Truly, I say to you, 5if you have faith and 6do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 7'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.
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And 8whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, 9if you have faith."
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 10And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him
11as he was teaching, and said,
12"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"
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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.
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The baptism of John, 13from where did it come? 14From heaven or from man?" And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us,
15'Why then did you not believe him?'
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But if we say, 'From man,'
16we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was
17a prophet."
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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 18"What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in 19the vineyard today.'