The Triumphal Entry
1Â When they came near to Jerusalem and arrived at Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2Â saying to them, âGo into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3Â If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, âThe Lord needs them,â and he will send them immediately.â
4Â All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5Â âTell the daughter of Zion,
your King is coming to you,
humble, and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.â a
6Â The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them 7Â and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8Â A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9Â The multitudes who went in front of him and those who followed, kept shouting,
âHosanna to the son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!â
10Â When he had come into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, âWho is this?â 11Â The multitudes said, âThis is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.â
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12Â Jesus entered into the temple and drove out all of those who bought and sold in the temple and overthrew the money changersâ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. 13Â He said to them, âIt is written, âMy house shall be called a house of prayer,â but you have made it a den of robbers!â b
14Â The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15Â But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, âHosanna to the son of David!â they were indignant 16Â and said to him, âDo you hear what they are saying?â
Jesus said to them, âYes. Did you never read, âOut of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have prepared praise?â â c
17Â He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and camped there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18Â Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19Â Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, âLet no fruit come from you ever again!â Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20Â When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, âHow did the fig tree immediately wither away?â
21Â Jesus answered them, âMost certainly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, âBe taken up and cast into the sea,â it would be done. 22Â And all things, as many as you might ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.â
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
23Â When Jesus had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, âBy what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?â
24Â Jesus answered them, âI also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Â The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?â
They reasoned among themselves, saying, âIf we say, âFrom heaven,â he will ask us, âWhy then did you not believe him?â 26Â But if we say, âFrom men,â we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.â 27Â They answered Jesus, âWe donât know.â
He also said to them, âNor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28Â But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, âSon, go work today in my vineyard.â 29Â He answered, âI will not,â but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30Â He came to the second and said the same thing. He answered, âIâm going, sir,â but he did not go. 31Â Which of the two did the will of his father?â
They said to him, âThe first.â
Jesus said to them, âMost certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you. 32Â For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw it, you did not afterwards repent and believe him.”
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33Â âHear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went to another country.
34Â When fruit season came, he sent his servants to the farmers, to collect his fruit. 35Â The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36Â Again, he sent other servants, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.
37Â But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, âThey will respect my son.â
38Â But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, âThis is the heir. Come, letâs kill him and seize his inheritance.â 39Â So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40Â When therefore the master of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?â
41Â They told him, âHe will utterly destroy those wicked men and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.â
42Â Jesus said to them, âDid you never read in the Scriptures,
âThe stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes.â d
43Â âTherefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation that will produce fruit. 44Â He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him like dust.â
45Â When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46Â They sought to arrest him, but they feared the multitudes because they considered him to be a prophet.
a Zechariah 9:9
b Isaiah 56:7
c Psalm 8:2
d Psalm 118:22-23