The Triumphal Entry
aAnd as they *approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and bBethany, near cthe Mount of Olives, He *sent two of His disciples, 2 and *said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they *untied it. 5 And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7 aAnd they *brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat on it. 8 And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches, having cut them from the fields. 9 And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting:
“Hosanna!
aBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David;
Hosanna ain the highest!”
11 aAnd Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, bHe left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.
The Barren Fig Tree
12 aAnd on the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 And seeing at a distance a fig tree that had leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And He answered and said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.
Jesus Drives Merchants from the Temple
15 aThen they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16 and He was not permitting anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘aMy house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? bBut you have made it a robbers’ den.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and abegan seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for bthe whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
19 aAnd when evening came, they were going out of the city.
20 aAnd as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “aRabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered and *said to them, “aHave faith in God. 23 aTruly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 For this reason I say to you, aall things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. 25 And whenever you astand praying, bforgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 [aBut if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 Then they *came again to Jerusalem. aAnd as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for everyone was regarding John to have been a real prophet. 33 And answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Parable of the Vine‑Growers
aAnd He began to speak to them in parables: “bA man cplanted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘aThe stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the chief corner stone;
11 aThis came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 aAnd they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so bthey left Him and went away.
Taxes to Caesar
13 aThen they *sent some of the Pharisees and bHerodians to Him in order to ctrap Him in a statement. 14 And they *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” 16 And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “aRender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.
The Sadducees and the Resurrection
18 aThen some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that aif a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up a seed for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first married a wife, and died leaving no seed. 21 And the second one married her, and died leaving behind no seed; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no seed. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But regarding the fact that the dead are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, ain the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘bI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 aHe is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
The Foremost Commandment
28 aAnd when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he brecognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘aHear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 aand you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘aYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that aHe is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 aand to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, bis much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” aAfter that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
35 aAnd Jesus began to say, as He btaught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the cson of David? 36 David himself said in the Holy Spirit,
‘aThe Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.”’
37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And athe large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.
38 aAnd in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes, and want brespectful greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 40 awho devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 aAnd He sat down opposite bthe treasury, and began observing how the crowd was cputting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which amount to a quadrans. 43 And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those putting money into the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had ato live on.”