1. One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courtyard and telling them the Good News. The chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came up to him.
2. They asked him, “Tell us, what gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
3. Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. Tell me,
4. did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”
5. They talked about this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’
6. But if we say, ‘from humans,’ everyone will stone us to death. They’re convinced that John was a prophet.”
7. So they answered that they didn’t know who gave John the right to baptize.