Matthew 21:12-17 - The Cleansing Of The Temple

¹² And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice]. ¹³ Jesus said to them, “It is written [in Scripture], ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple area, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], “Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah),” they became indignant ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus replied to them, “Yes; have you never read [in the Scripture], ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared and provided praise for Yourself’?”

¹⁷ Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple [grounds] and began driving out [with force] the people who were selling and buying [animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the seats of those who were selling doves; ¹⁶ and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise or household wares through the temple [grounds, using the temple area irreverently as a shortcut].

¹⁷ He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” ¹⁸ The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began searching for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, since the entire crowd was struck with astonishment at His teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and His disciples would leave the city.

⁴⁵ Jesus went into the temple [enclosure] and began driving out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a robbers’ den.”

⁴⁷ He was teaching day after day in the temple [porches and courts]; but the chief priests and scribes and the leading men among the people were seeking [a way] to put Him to death, ⁴⁸ and they could not find anything that they could do, for all the people [stayed close to Him and] were hanging on to every word He said.

¹⁴ And in the temple [enclosure] He found the people who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵ He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ then to those who sold the doves He said, “Take these things away! Stop making My Father’s house a place of commerce!”

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Scriptures], “Zeal (love, concern) for Your house [and its honor] will consume Me.”

¹⁸ Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰ Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?”

²¹ But He was speaking of the temple which was His body. ²² So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.