The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 83b

In those days Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, and the benches of those who sold pigeons, and said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And having left them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night. In the morning, returning to the city, he hungered; And when he saw a fig tree by the wayside, he came up to it, and finding nothing on it but leaves, he said to her, "Let there be no more fruit from you forever." And the fig tree immediately withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and said, "How is it that the fig tree immediately withered?"

Matthew 21:12-14; 17–20

Friday of the 9th week.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 84a

In those days, as Jesus returned to the city, he hungered; And when he saw a fig tree by the wayside, he came up to it, and finding nothing on it but leaves, he said to her, "Let there be no more fruit from you forever." And the fig tree immediately withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and said, "How is it that the fig tree immediately withered?" And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and do not doubt, ye shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but if ye also say to this mountain, Be lifted up, and be cast into the sea, it shall be done; and whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive.

Matthew 21:18-22

Monday, the 10th week.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 84b

In those days, as Jesus returned to the city, he hungered; And when he saw a fig tree by the wayside, he came up to it, and finding nothing on it but leaves, he said to her, "Let there be no more fruit from you forever." And the fig tree immediately withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and said, "How is it that the fig tree immediately withered?" And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and do not doubt, ye shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but if ye also say to this mountain, Be lifted up, and be cast into the sea, it shall be done; and whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive. And when he came to the temple and taught, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him, and said, By what authority dost thou do these things? and who gave you such authority? Jesus answered and said to them, "I will ask you one thing; if you tell Me about this, then I will tell you by what authority I do it; Where did the baptism of John come from: from heaven, or from men? And they reasoned among themselves, If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why did you not believe him?' and if we say, "From men," we fear the people, for everyone reveres John as a prophet. And they answered and said to Jesus, We do not know. He also said to them, "And I will not tell you by what authority I do this." What do you think? A certain man had two sons; And he came to the first, and said, "Son! Go tonight to work in my vineyard. But he answered and said, "I do not want to; and then, repenting, he went. And going up to another, he said the same thing. This one answered and said, "I am coming, sir," and he did not go. Which of the two has fulfilled the will of the father? They said to Him, "First." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that the publicans and prostitutes go before you into the kingdom of God, for John came to you by the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the publicans and harlots believed him. but you, even when you saw this, did not repent afterwards to believe him. Listen to another parable: there was a certain owner of a house, who planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, and, having given it to the tenants, went away. When the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to take their fruit; The tenants seized his servants, and killed some of them, and stoned others. Again he sent other servants, more than before; and they did the same. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying, "They will be ashamed of my son." But when the tenants saw their son, they said to one another, "This is the heir; Come, let us kill him, and take possession of his inheritance. And they seized him, and led him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these tenants? They say to him, "He will deliver these evildoers to an evil death, and he will give the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him fruit in their seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures, that the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner?" Is this from the Lord, and is it wondrous in our eyes? Wherefore I say unto you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to the people that bear its fruits.

Matthew 21:18–43

Great Monday, at Matins.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 85

In the days when Jesus came to the temple and taught, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him and said, "By what authority do You do these things?" And who gave You such authority? Jesus answered and said to them, "I will ask you one thing; if you tell Me about this, then I will tell you by what authority I do it; Where did the baptism of John come from: from heaven, or from men? And they reasoned among themselves, If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why did you not believe him?' and if we say, "From men," we fear the people, for everyone reveres John as a prophet. And they answered and said to Jesus, We do not know. He also said to them, "And I will not tell you by what authority I do this."