If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Parallel translations
- WEB If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
- KJV And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
- NKJV And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
- NASB And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.”
- NLT If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus tells the disciples to say 'The Lord needs them' if anyone questions them, and the owner will release the animals. His authority and foreknowledge govern the whole event.
Overview
The simple password, 'The Lord needs them,' will secure the animals, showing Jesus' authority and his foreknowledge of how the owner will respond. The title 'the Lord' marks Jesus' rightful claim over all things. Every detail unfolds under his sovereign direction as he moves toward his royal entry into Jerusalem.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Acts 17:25Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- 2 Cor 8:1–2Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the churches of Macedonia.
- John 3:35The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.
- 2 Cor 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
- Ps 50:10–11for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills.
- Ezra 1:5So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.
- Ps 24:1A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- Hag 2:8–9The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezra 7:27Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
- John 17:2For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
- Ezra 1:1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
- 2 Cor 8:16But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you.
- 1 Kgs 17:9“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
- 1 Sam 10:26Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.
- 1 Chr 29:14–16But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 21:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.