Study Desk

^(C1)Then they ^(*)came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(F1)doves;

and He would not allow anyone to carry ^(F1)merchandise through the temple grounds.

And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written: '^(C1)MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? ^(C2)But you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS."

And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they ^(C1)began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all ^(C2)the crowd was astonished at His teaching.

And ^(C1)whenever evening came, ^(F1)they would leave the city.

^(C1)As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

And being reminded, Peter ^(*)said to Him, "^(C1)Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered."

And Jesus answered and ^(*)said to them, "^(C1)Have faith in God.

"^(C1)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

"Therefore, I say to you, ^(C1)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

"And whenever you ^(C1)stand praying, ^(C2)forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your ^(F1)offenses.

["^(F1)(C1)But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your ^(F2)offenses."]

And they ^(*)came again to Jerusalem. ^(C1)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders ^(*)came to Him,

and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?"

But Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

"Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me."

And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

"But should we say, 'From men'?"—they were afraid of the ^(F1)people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet.

Answering Jesus, they ^(*)said, "We do not know." And Jesus ^(*)said to them, "Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things."