The Triumphal Entry
1 When they approached Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples [ahead],
2 saying to them,“Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you should say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and without delay the owner will send them[with you].”
4 This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:
5 “Tell the daughter ofZion(the people of Jerusalem),
‘Behold,yourKing is coming to you,
Gentle and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt,the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them,
7 and they brought the donkey andthe colt, andplaced their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats.
8 Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.
9 The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],
“Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah);
Blessed[praised, glorified]isHe who comes in the name of theLord;
Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!”
10 When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Cleansing the Temple
12 And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the templearea, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice].
13 Jesus said to them,“It is written[in Scripture],‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it arobbers’ den.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in [the porticoes and courts of] the templearea,and He healed them.
15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderfulandmiraculous things that Jesus had done, andheardtheboys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], “Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah),” they became indignant
16 and they said to Him, “Do You hear what thesechildrenare saying?” And Jesus replied to them,“Yes; have you never read[in the Scripture],‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babiesYou have preparedandprovided praise forYourself’?”
17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.
19 Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it,“Never again will fruit come from you.”And at once the fig tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?”
21 Jesus replied to them,“I assure youandmost solemnly say to you, if you have faith[personal trust and confidence in Me]and do not doubtorallow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen[if God wills it].
22 And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Authority Challenged
23 When He entered the templearea,thechief priests and elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what [kind of] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority [to exercise this power]?”
24 Jesus replied to them,“I will also ask you a question, and if you tell Me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John–from where did it come? From heaven[that is, ordained by God]or from men?”And theybegandebating among themselves [considering the implications of their answer], saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the [response of the] crowd; for they all regard John as a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And He said to them,“Neither will I tell you by what[kind of]authority I do these things.”
Parable of Two Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29 And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted itandchanged his mind and went.
30 Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘Iwill,sir’; but he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of the father?”The chief priests and elders replied, “The first one.” Jesus said to them,“I assure youandmost solemnly say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you[walking]in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even change your mind afterward and believe him[accepting what he proclaimed to you].
Parable of the Landowner
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner whoplanted avineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it,and built a tower, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey[to another country].
34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his[share of the]fruit.
35 But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.
36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they treated them the same way.
37 Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my sonandhave regard for him.’
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This[man]is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’
39 So they took the son and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 They said to Him, “He will put those despicable men to a miserable end, and rent out the vineyard to other tenants [of good character] who will pay him the proceeds at theproperseasons.”
42 Jesus asked them,“Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The[very]Stone which the builders rejectedandthrew away,
Has become the chiefCornerstone;
This is theLord’s doing,
And it is marvelousandwonderful in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to[another]people who will produce the fruit of it.
44 And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them.
46 And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Jesus as a prophet.