And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

And if any man shall say to you, What are you doing? say ye that the Lord hath need of him: and immediately he will let him come hither.

And if any one say to you, Why do ye this? say, The Lord has need of it; and straightway he sends it hither.

And if any man shall say to you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and immediately he will send him hither.

and if any one may say to you, Why do ye this? say ye that the lord hath need of it, and immediately he will send it hither.'

And if any man say to you, Why do you this? say you that the Lord has need of him; and straightway he will send him here.

And if any one asks you, 'Why are you doing that?' say, 'The Master needs it, and will send it back here without delay.'"

And if anyone says to you, Why are you doing this? say, The Lord has need of him and will send him back straight away.

And if anyone will say to you: 'What are you doing?' Say that the Lord has need of him. And he will immediately send him here."

And straightway he will send him hither - From the text, I think it is exceedingly plain, that our Lord did not beg, but borrow, the colt; therefore the latter clause of this verse should be understood as the promise of returning him. Is not the proper translation the following? And if any one say to you, Why do ye this? Say, the Lord hath need of him, and will speedily send him back hither - και ευθεως αυτον αποστελλει ὡδε. Some eminent critics take the same view of the passage.

And if any man say unto you,.... As very likely they would, and it would be strange if they should not say something to them, especially the owners of it:
why do ye this? Why do ye untie the ass, and attempt to carry it away, when it is none of your own, and it belongs to another man?
Say ye that the Lord hath need of him; our Lord and yours, the Lord of heaven and earth, and all things in it; it looks as if this title, "the Lord", was what Jesus was well known by; see John 11:28; unless it can be thought, that the owners of the colt were such, that believed in Christ, as is not improbable; and so would at once understand by the language who it was for, and let it go:
and straightway he will send him, hither; as soon as ever he hears that the Lord, by whom he would presently understand Jesus, wanted him for his present purpose; he will send him with all readiness and cheerfulness, without the least hesitation, or making any dispute about it.