Matthew 21:23-32 When He had come into the Temple, the leading priests and elders of the Jewish people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things i.e., miracles and teaching? And who gave you this authority?”

AUV⁽ⁱ⁾ ²³ When He had come into the Temple, the leading priests and elders of the [Jewish] people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]? And who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “Let me also ask you a question. If you answer it, then I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ Where did the immersion of John come from? From heaven or from men?” And they discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe his message?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘from men,’ we are afraid the crowd will oppose us because they all consider John to be a prophet.” ²⁷ So, they answered Jesus, “We do not know [where John got the authority for his immersion].” Jesus then replied to them, “[Then] neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]. ²⁸ But what do you think [about this]? A man had two sons; He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go to work in my vineyard today.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘No, I will not,’ but later changed his mind and went. ³⁰ He went to the second son and said the same thing. That son replied, ‘[Yes], sir, I will,’ [but] then did not go. ³¹ Which of these two sons did what his father wanted?” They answered, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes [will] enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to show you the way to be right with God, but you would not believe his message. Yet the tax collectors and prostitutes believed it, and when you saw this, even then you did not change your minds so as to believe his message.