John 2:14

Plain English Version

God’s ceremony house was in Jerusalem, and people had to kill animals there and burn them to show respect to God, and they had to pay tax money to the men that look after God’s house. Jesus went into the yard of God’s ceremony house, and he found men there selling cows, and bulls, and sheep, and pigeons. And there were men there that changed the money of other countries into Jewish money so that people could pay that tax. You see, those men that sold things and changed money, they did that to get some money for themselves.

Cross References

Mark 11:15

Then Jesus and his followers went into Jerusalem, and they went to God’s ceremony house. Inside that house people were buying and selling animals and pigeons, to use in their ceremonies. And other people were taking people’s Roman money and giving them Jewish money, to give to the bosses of God’s ceremony house. But they did those things inside that house. They didn’t respect God’s house, so they were wrong. So Jesus hunted all those people out of God’s ceremony house. He hunted out all the men that sold things, and the people that bought things, and those people that changed money. He knocked over their tables with their money on them, and he knocked over the chairs of the men that sold pigeons.

Mark 11:17

Then Jesus taught everyone. He said, “Do you know what God says? These words are in his book, ‘God wants his special house to be a place for people from every tribe to come and pray in.’ But you mob turned God’s house into a place where criminals steal money from people.”

John 2:15

Jesus saw them doing that. So he made a whip out of some rope, and he used it to hunt those men and animals out of the yard. He went to the men that changed the money, and he pushed their tables over. All their money went everywhere on the ground.