Matthew 21:3

New Living Translation

If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately let you take them."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”

King James Version (1611)
And if any man say ought vnto you, yee shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway hee will send them.

King James Version
And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

English Standard Version
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

New American Standard Bible
"And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them on immediately."

New Century Version
If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master needs them, and he will send them at once."

Amplified Bible
"If anyone says anything to you, you should say, 'The Lord needs them,' and without delay the owner will send them [with you]."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."

Legacy Standard Bible
And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."

Berean Standard Bible
If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

Contemporary English Version
If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, ‘The Lord needs them.' Right away he will let you have the donkeys."

Complete Jewish Bible
If anyone says anything to you, tell him, ‘The Lord needs them'; and he will let them go at once."

Darby Translation
And if any one say anything to you, ye shall say, The Lord has need of them, and straightway he will send them.

Easy-to-Read Version
If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell them, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.'"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And if any man say ought vnto you, say ye, that the Lorde hath neede of them, and straightway he will let them goe.

George Lamsa Translation
And if any man should say anything to you, tell him that our Lord needs them; and he will immediately send them here.

Good News Translation
And if anyone says anything, tell him, ‘The Master needs them'; and then he will let them go at once."

Lexham English Bible
And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

Literal Translation
And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them. And he will send them at once.

American Standard Version
And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

Bible in Basic English
And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, The Lord has need of them; and straight away he will send them.

Hebrew Names Version
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and immediately he will send them."

International Standard Version
If anyone says anything to you, tell him, 'The Lord needs them,' and that person will send them at once."

Etheridge Translation
And if any one say ought to you, say to him that it is requested for our Lord, and immediately he will send them hither.

Murdock Translation
And if any man say ought to you, tell him, That they are needed by our Lord: and at once he will send them hither.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yf any man saye ought vnto you, saye ye, the Lorde hath nede of them: and strayghtway he wyll let them go.

English Revised Version
And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

World English Bible
If anyone says anything to you, you will say, 'The Lord needs them,' and immediately he will send them."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And if any man say ought to you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them: and he will send them immediately.

Weymouth's New Testament
And if any one says anything to you, say, `The Master needs them,' and he will at once send them."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And if ony man seie to you ony thing, seie ye, that the Lord hath nede to hem; and anoon he schal leeue hem.

Update Bible Version
And if any one says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them; and right away he will send them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if any [man] shall say aught to you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and immediately he will send them.

New English Translation
If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

New King James Version
And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."

New Life Bible
If anyone says something to you, say, ‘The Lord needs them.' He will send them at once."

New Revised Standard
If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, if anyone, unto you, say aught, ye shall say - Their Lord, hath, need, - and, straightway, he will send them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if any man shall say anything to you, say ye that the Lord hath need of them. And forthwith he will let them go.

Revised Standard Version
If any one says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and he will send them immediately."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And if eny man saye ought vnto you saye ye yt the lorde hath neade of them: and streyght waye he will let them go.

Young's Literal Translation
and if any one may say anything to you, ye shall say, that the lord hath need of them, and immediately he will send them.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And yf eny man saye ought vnto you, saye ye: the LORDE hath nede of the, And straight waye he wil let them go.

Mace New Testament (1729)
if any man oppose you, say, the Lord wants them; and then he will send them.

Simplified Cowboy Version
If anyone says anything, tell 'em that the Boss's Son needs them."

Contextual Overview

¹ As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. ² "Go into the village over there," he said. "As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately let you take them." ⁴ This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, ⁵ "Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey's colt.'" ⁶ The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord ! Praise God in highest heaven!" ¹⁰ The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The Lord: 1 Chronicles 29:14-16, Psalms 24:1, Psalms 50:10, Psalms 50:11, Haggai 2:8, Haggai 2:9, John 3:35, John 17:2, Acts 17:25, 2 Corinthians 8:9

straightway: 1 Samuel 10:26, 1 Kings 17:9, Ezra 1:1, Ezra 1:5, Ezra 7:27, 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:2, 2 Corinthians 8:16, James 1:17

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 11:18 - the Lord Matthew 26:18 - The Master Mark 11:2 - General Luke 19:31 - the Lord Luke 22:11 - The Master

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God replied, "No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 21:6
And Sarah declared, "God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.

Genesis 21:12
But God told Abraham, "Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.

Genesis 22:2
"Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."

Joshua 24:3
But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac.

Matthew 1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

Acts 7:8
"God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.

Romans 9:7
Being descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted," though Abraham had other children, too.

Hebrews 11:18
even though God had told him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if any man say ought unto you,.... As, what business have you with the ass and colt? why do you loose them? as certain persons, the owners of them did, as Mark and Luke relate;

ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them: he that is our Lord, and your Lord, and the Lord of these creatures, and of all things else, wants them for his present service;

and straightway he will send them: which is either a continuation of what the disciples should say to any that should ask them the reason of their loosing the ass and colt, in order to make them easy: that the Lord who had need of them, as soon as he had done with them, would send them back to their proper owners, safe and well: or they are spoken for the encouragement of the disciples to go, and not be disheartened, though they should be thus examined; for immediately upon saying, that the Lord stood in need of them, and had an use for them at that time, the owner thereof, without any more words, would immediately send them along with them; which latter rather seems to be the sense of the clause; and which is confirmed by Mark: a very clear proof is this of the omniscience of Christ. He knew, that there were an ass, and a colt, in such a village, fastened to such a door, just at the entrance into the town: he knew the owners of it would examine the disciples about loosing and taking them away, and prepares them to give an answer; and he knew that the minds of these owners would be immediately wrought upon, and inclined to let them go directly and quietly.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord hath need of them - This means no more than the “master” has need of them. The word “Lord” often means no more than “master” as opposed to servant, Matthew 10:24; Eph 6:5; 1 Peter 3:5-6. The word is sometimes used in the Bible as applied to God, or as a translation of the name Yahweh. Its common use is a mere title of respect given by an inferior to a superior, by a servant to a master, by a disciple to a teacher. As a title of “high respect” it was given to Christ, or the Messiah. The persons to whom these disciples were sent were probably acquainted with the miracles of Jesus and favorably disposed toward him He had attracted great notice in that region, particularly by raising Lazarus from the dead, and most of the people regarded him as the Messiah.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 21:3. The Lord (the proprietor of all things) hath need of them — Jesus is continually humbling himself, to show us how odious pride is in the sight of God: but in his humility he is ever giving proofs of his almighty power, that the belief of his divinity may be established.