Matthew 21
Wycliffe's Bible
1And when Jesus came nigh to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the mount of Olives, then sent he his two disciples, [And when Jesus came nigh to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent his two disciples,] 2and said to them, Go ye into the castle that is against you, and anon ye shall find an ass tied (up), and a colt with her; untie ye, and bring (them) to me. (and said to them, Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once ye shall find a donkey tied up, and a colt with her; untie them, and bring them to me.) 3And if any man say to you anything, say ye, that the Lord hath need to them; and anon he shall leave them. (And if anyone say anything to you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them; and at once he shall let them go.) 4All this was done, that that thing should be fulfilled, that was said by the prophet, saying,

5Say ye to the daughter of Sion (Say to the daughter of Zion), Lo! thy king cometh to thee, meek, sitting on an ass, and a foal, (or a colt), of an ass under yoke.

6And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded [to] them. 7And they brought an ass, and the foal, (or the colt), and laid their clothes on them, and made him [to] sit above. (And they brought the donkey, and the colt, and laid their clothes on them, and had him sit upon the donkey.) 8And full much people spreaded their clothes in the way; others cutted branches of trees, and strewed in the way. (And many people spread their clothes on the way, or on the road; others cut off tree branches, and strew them on the way.)

9And the people that went before, and that (pur)sued (and who followed), cried, and said, Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in high things [Hosanna in the highest things].

10And when he was entered into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, and said, Who is this? 11But the people said, This is Jesus, the prophet, of Nazareth of Galilee.

12And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out of the temple all that bought and sold; and he turned upside-down the boards of (the) (money-)changers, and the chairs of men that sold culvers. (And Jesus entered into the Temple of God, and threw out of the Temple all who bought and sold; and he turned upside-down the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of men who sold doves and pigeons.) 13And he said to them, It is written, Mine house shall be called an house of prayer (My House shall be called a House of Prayer); but ye have made it (into) a den of thieves.

14And (the) blind and (the) crooked came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (And the blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.) 15But the princes of (the) priests, and the scribes (But the high priests, and the scribes), seeing the marvelous things, (or the wonderful things), that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they had indignation, (or disdain), 16and said to him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus said to them, Yea; whether ye have never read, That (out) of the mouth(s) of young children, and of suckling children, thou hast made perfect praising? 17And when he had left them, he went forth out of the city, into Bethany; and there he dwelt, and taught them of the kingdom of God.

18But on the morrow, he, turning again into the city, hungered. (But the next morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.) 19And he saw a fig tree beside the way, and came to it, and found nothing therein, (or thereon), but leaves only. And he said to it, Never fruit come forth of thee [Never be fruit born of thee], into without end. And anon the fig tree was dried up (And at once the fig tree dried up).

20And the disciples saw, and wondered, saying, How anon it dried [How it dried up anon] (How at once, or so quickly, it dried up). 21And Jesus answered, and said to them, Truly I say to you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, not only ye shall do of the fig tree, but also if ye say to this hill, Take [away thee], and cast thee into the sea (Go away, and throw thyself into the sea), it shall be done so [it shall be done]. 22And all things whatever ye believing shall ask (for) in prayer, ye shall take (ye shall receive them).

23And when he came into the temple, the princes of (the) priests (the high priests), and (the) elder men of the people came to him that taught [came to him (while he was) teaching], and said, In what power doest thou these things? and who gave [to] thee this power? 24Jesus answered, and said to them, And I shall ask you one word (And I shall ask you one question), the which if ye tell me, I shall say to you, in what power I do these things. 25Of whence was the baptism of John; of heaven, or of men? And they thought within themselves, saying, If we say of heaven, he shall say to us, Why then believe ye not to him? (From where was the baptism of John; from heaven, or from men? And they thought within themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, he shall say to us, Then why did ye not believe him?) 26If we say of men, we dread the people, for all had John as a prophet. (If we say from men, we fear the people, for everyone believed that John was a prophet.) 27And they answered to Jesus, and said, We know not. And he said to them, Neither I say to you, in what power I do these things.

28But what seemeth to you? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work this day in my vineyard. 29And he answered, and said, I will not; but afterward he forethought, and went forth [but afterward he stirred by penance, or forethinking, (or repenting), went] (but afterward he repented, and went and worked). 30But he came to the other, and said in like manner. And he answered, and said, Lord, I go; and he went not (but he did not go). 31Who of the twain did the father's will? They say to him, The first. Jesus saith to them, Truly I say to you, for publicans and whores shall go before you into the kingdom of God. (Which of the two did the father's will? They said to him, The first one. Then Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, tax-collectors and prostitutes now go ahead of you into the Kingdom of God.) 32For John came to you in the way of rightwiseness, and ye believed not to him; but publicans and whores believed to him. But ye saw, and had no forethinking after, that ye believed to him [But ye seeing, had not penance afterward, that ye should believe to him]. (For John came to you by the way of righteousness, and ye did not believe him; but tax-collectors and prostitutes believed him. Yes, ye saw this, but ye had no repenting afterward, so that ye believed him.)

33Hear ye another parable. There was an husbandman, that planted a vineyard, and hedged it about, and delved a presser therein, and builded a tower, and hired it to earth-tillers, and went far (away) in pilgrimage. (Listen to another parable. There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it about, and dug a hole for a winepress in it, and built a look-out tower, and rented the land to farmers, and then went on a journey.) 34And when the time of fruits nighed, he sent his servants to the earth-tillers, to take (the) fruits of it. (And when the time of fruits approached, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive some of its fruits.) 35And the earth-tillers took his servants, and they beat one, they slew another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and in like manner they did to them [and they did to them in like manner]. 37And at the last he sent his son to them, and said, They shall dread my son. (And finally he sent his son to them, and said, They shall fear my son/They shall show reverence, or some respect, for my son.) 38But the earth-tillers, seeing the son, said within themselves, This is the heir; come ye, slay we him, and we shall have his heritage. (But the farmers, seeing the son, said to each other, He is the heir; come, let us kill him, and then we shall get his inheritance.) 39And they took him, and casted him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.) 40Therefore when the lord of the vineyard shall come, what shall he do to those earth-tillers? 41They say to him, He shall lose evil (He shall destroy evil), (yea), the evil men, and he shall set to hire his vineyard to other earth-tillers, which shall yield to him (the) fruit in their times.

42Jesus saith to them, Read ye never in (the) scriptures, The stone which the builders reproved, this is made into the head of the corner? Of the Lord this thing is done, and it is marvelous, (or it is wonderful), in our eyes.

43Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and [it] shall be given to a folk doing [the] fruits of it. (And so I tell you, that the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation and a people bringing forth its proper fruits.) 44And he that shall fall on this stone, shall be broken; but on whom it shall fall, it shall bruise him, (or it shall pound him), all to pieces.

45And when the princes of (the) priests, and [the] Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he said of them. (And when the high priests, and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he had spoken about them.) 46And they sought to (take) hold (of) him, but they dreaded the people (but they feared the people), for they had him as a prophet.

WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE

Comprising of
Wycliffe’s Old Testament

and

Wycliffe’s New Testament
(Revised Edition)


Translated by

JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JOHN PURVEY


A modern-spelling edition of their
14TH century Middle English translation,
the first complete English vernacular version,
with an Introduction by

TERENCE P. NOBLE

Used by Permission

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