Matthew 21:21-31

21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, ¹if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

22 "And ²all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Authority Challenged

23 ³When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ⁴while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"

24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why * did you not believe him?'

26 "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as ⁵a prophet."

27 And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

28 "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the ⁶vineyard.'

29 "And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.

30 "The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir '; but he 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 that ⁷the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.

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