Matthew 21:13
New International Version
“It is written,” he said to them, “’My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

New Living Translation
He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

English Standard Version
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Berean Standard Bible
And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”

Berean Literal Bible
And He says to them, "It has been written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer.' But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

King James Bible
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

New King James Version
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

New American Standard Bible
And He said to them, “It is written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

NASB 1995
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’ but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

NASB 1977
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

Amplified Bible
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.”

Christian Standard Bible
He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves! ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
And He said to them, “It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of thieves!”

American Standard Version
and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said to them, “It is written: 'My house will be called the House of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.' “

Contemporary English Version
He told them, "The Scriptures say, 'My house should be called a place of worship.' But you have turned it into a place where robbers hide."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.

English Revised Version
and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He told them, "Scripture says, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you're turning it into a gathering place for thieves!"

Good News Translation
and said to them, "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer.' But you are making it a hideout for thieves!"

International Standard Version
He told them, "It is written, 'My house is to be called a house of prayer,' but you are turning it into a hideout for bandits!"

Literal Standard Version
and He says to them, “It has been written: My house will be called a house of prayer; but you made it a den of robbers.”

Majority Standard Bible
And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

New American Bible
And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.”

NET Bible
And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are turning it into a den of robbers!"

New Revised Standard Version
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

New Heart English Bible
He said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers."

Webster's Bible Translation
And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Weymouth New Testament
"It is written," He said, "'My House shall be called the House of Prayer', but you are making it a robbers' cave."

World English Bible
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith to them, 'It hath been written, My house a house of prayer shall be called, but ye did make it a den of robbers.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 14The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.…

Cross References
Isaiah 56:7
I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations."

Jeremiah 7:11
Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.

Mark 11:17
Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

Luke 19:45
Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there.

Luke 19:46
He declared to them, "It is written: 'My house will be a house of prayer.' But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"


Treasury of Scripture

And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.

It is.

Matthew 2:5
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

John 15:25
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

My.

Psalm 93:5
Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

Isaiah 56:7
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

ye.

Jeremiah 7:11
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

Mark 11:17
And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Luke 19:46
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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Cave Den Hole House Making Prayer Robbers Thieves Writings Written
Matthew 21
1. Jesus rides into Jerusalem upon a donkey
12. drives the buyers and sellers out of the temple;
17. curses the fig tree;
23. puts to silence the priests and elders,
28. and rebukes them by the parable of the two sons,
33. and the husbandmen who slew such as were sent to them.














(13) It is written.--The words which our Lord quotes are a free combination of two prophetic utterances: one from Isaiah's vision of the future glory of the Temple, as visited both by Jew and Gentile (Isaiah 56:7); one from Jeremiah's condemnation of evils like in nature, if not in form, to those against which our Lord protested (Jeremiah 7:11).

A den of thieves.--The pictorial vividness of the words must not be passed over. Palestine was then swarming with bands of outlaw brigands, who, as David of old in Adullam (1Samuel 22:1), haunted the lime-stone caverns of Judaea. The wranglings of such a company over the booty they had carried off were reproduced in the Temple, and mingled with the Hallelujahs of the Levites and the Hosannas of the crowds. We ask, as we read the narrative, how it was that the work of expulsion was done so effectively, and with so little resistance. The answer is found (1) in the personal greatness and intensity of will that showed itself in our Lord's look and word and tone; (2) in the presence of the crowd that had followed Him from the Mount of Olives, and had probably filled the courts of the Temple; and (3) in the secret consciousness of the offenders that they were desecrating the Temple, and that the Prophet of Nazareth, in His zeal for His Father's house, was the witness of a divine truth.

Verse 13. - It is written. Jesus confirms his action by the word of Scripture. He combines in one severe sentence a passage from Isaiah 56:7 ("Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all peoples"), and one from Jeremiah 7:11 ("Is this house, which is called by my Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?"). He brings out in strong contrast the high design and use of the house of God (an allusion specially appropriate at the coming festival), and the vile and profane purposes to which the greed and impiety of men had subjected it. Ye have made it; Revised Version, ye make it; and so many modern editors on good manuscript authority. These base traffickers had turned the hallowed courts into a cavern where robbers stored their ill-gotten plunder. It may also be said that to make the place of prayer for all the nations a market for boasts was a robbery of the rights of the Gentiles (Lange). And Christ here vindicated the sanctity of the house of God: the Lord, according to the prophecy of Malachi (Malachi 3:1-3), had suddenly come to his temple to refine and purify, to show that none can profane what is dedicated to the service of God without most certain loss and punishment.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
And
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

He declared
λέγει (legei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

to them,
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“It is written:
Γέγραπται (Gegraptai)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1125: A primary verb; to 'grave', especially to write; figuratively, to describe.

‘My
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

house
οἶκός (oikos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3624: A dwelling; by implication, a family.

will be called
κληθήσεται (klēthēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2564: (a) I call, summon, invite, (b) I call, name. Akin to the base of keleuo; to 'call'.

a house
οἶκος (oikos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3624: A dwelling; by implication, a family.

of prayer.’
προσευχῆς (proseuchēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4335: From proseuchomai; prayer; by implication, an oratory.

But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

you
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

are making
ποιεῖτε (poieite)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

it
αὐτὸν (auton)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

‘a den
Σπήλαιον (Spēlaion)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4693: A cave, den, hideout. Neuter of a presumed derivative of speos; a cavern; by implication, a hiding-place or resort.

of robbers.’”
λῃστῶν (lēstōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3027: A robber, brigand, bandit. From leizomai; a brigand.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 21:13 He said to them It is written (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 21:12
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