27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And when Jesus was walking about in the [ 1 courts and porches of the] temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, 28 And they kept saying to Him, By what [sort of] authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do them? 29 Jesus told them, I will ask you a question. Answer Me, and then I will tell you by what [sort of] authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer Me. 31 And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, He will say, Why then did you not believe him? 32 But [on the other hand] can we say, From men? For they were afraid of the people, because everybody considered and held John actually to be a prophet. 33 So they replied to Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus said to them, Neither am I going to tell you what [sort of] authority I have for doing these things.