And they sought to take hold of him, but they feared the crowd. For they knew that he had spoken this parable about them. And leaving him behind, they went away.
"If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we have the crowd to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet."
And when the leaders of the priests, and the scribes, had heard this, they sought a means by which they might destroy him. For they feared him, because the entire multitude was in admiration over his doctrine.
And the leaders of the priests, and the scribes, were seeking to lay hands on him in that same hour, but they feared the people. For they realized that he had spoken this parable about them.