aWhen they had approached
Jerusalem
and had come
to Bethphage
, at bthe Mount
of Olives
, then
Jesus
sent
two
disciples
,
saying to them, "Go
into the village
opposite
you, and immediately
you will find
a donkey
tied
there and a colt
with her; untie
them and bring
them to Me.
"If anyone
says
anything
to you, you shall say
, `The Lord
has
need
of them,' and immediately
he will send
them."
aThis 1took
place
to fulfill
what
was spoken
through
the prophet
:
" aSAY TO THE DAUGHTER
OF ZION
, `BEHOLD
YOUR KING
IS COMING
TO YOU, GENTLE
, AND MOUNTED
ON A DONKEY
, EVEN
ON A COLT
, THE FOAL
OF A BEAST
OF BURDEN
.' "
The disciples went
and did
just
as Jesus
had instructed
them,
and brought the donkey
and the colt
, and laid
their coats
on them; and He sat
on 1the coats
.
Most of the crowd
aspread
their coats
in the road
, and others
were cutting
branches
from the trees
and spreading
them in the road
.
The crowds going
ahead
of Him, and those
who followed
, were shouting
, "Hosanna
to the aSon
of David
; bBLESSED
IS HE WHO COMES
IN THE NAME
OF THE LORD
; Hosanna
cin the highest
!"
When He had entered Jerusalem
, all
the city
was stirred
, saying
, "Who
is this
?"
And the crowds were saying
, "This
is athe prophet
Jesus
, from bNazareth
in Galilee
."
aAnd Jesus entered
the temple
and drove
out all
those
who were buying
and selling
in the temple
, and overturned
the tables
of the bmoney
changers
and the seats
of those
who were selling
cdoves
.
And He *said to them, "It is written
, ` aMY HOUSE
SHALL BE CALLED
A HOUSE
OF PRAYER
'; but you are making
it a bROBBERS'
1DEN
."
And the blind and the lame
came
to Him in the temple
, and aHe healed
them.
But when the chief priests
and the scribes
saw
the wonderful
things
that He had done
, and the children
who were shouting
in the temple
, "Hosanna
to the aSon
of David
," they became indignant
and said to Him, "Do You hear
what
these
children are saying
?" And Jesus
*said
to them, "Yes
; have you never
read
, ` aOUT OF THE MOUTH
OF INFANTS
AND NURSING
BABIES
YOU HAVE PREPARED
PRAISE
FOR YOURSELF'?"
And He left them and went
out of the city
to aBethany
, and spent
the night
there
.
aNow in the morning
, when He was returning
to the city
, He became hungry
.
Seeing a lone
afig
tree
by the road
, He came
to it and found
nothing
on it except
leaves
only
; and He *said
to it, "No
longer
shall there ever
be any fruit
from you." And at once
the fig
tree
withered
.
Seeing this, the disciples
were amazed
and asked
, "How
did the fig
tree
wither
all at once
?"
And Jesus answered
and said
to them, "Truly
I say
to you, aif
you have
faith
and do not doubt
, you will not only
do
what
was done to the fig
tree
, but even
if
you say
to this
mountain
, `Be taken
up and cast
into the sea
,' it will happen
.
"And aall things
you ask
in prayer
, believing
, you will receive
."
aWhen He entered the temple
, the chief
priests
and the elders
of the people
came
to Him bwhile He was teaching
, and said
, "By what
authority
are You doing
these
things
, and who
gave
You this
authority
?"
Jesus said
to them, "I will also
ask
you one
1thing
, which
if
you tell
Me, I will also
tell
you by what
authority
I do
these
things
.
"The baptism of John
was from what
source, from heaven
or
from men
?" And they began reasoning
among
themselves
, saying
, "If
we say
, `From heaven
,' He will say
to us, `Then
why
did you not believe
him?'
"But if we say
, `From men
,' we fear
the 1people
; for they all
regard
John
as aa prophet
."
And answering Jesus
, they said
, "We do not know
." He also
said
to them, "Neither
will I tell
you by what
authority
I do
these
things
.
"But what do you think
? A man
had
two
1sons
, and he came
to the first
and said
, ` 2Son
, go
work
today
in the avineyard
.'
"And he answered, `I will not'; but afterward
he regretted
it and went
.
"The man came to the second
and said
the same
thing
; and he answered
, `I will
, sir
'; but he did not go
.
"Which of the two
did
the will
of his father
?" They *said
, "The first
." Jesus
*said
to them, "Truly
I say
to you that athe tax
collectors
and prostitutes
1will get
into the kingdom
of God
before
you.
"For John came
to you in the way
of righteousness
and you did not believe
him; but athe tax
collectors
and prostitutes
did believe
him; and you, seeing
this, did not even
feel
remorse
afterward
so as to believe
him.
"Listen to another
parable
. aThere was a 1landowner
who
bPLANTED
A cVINEYARD
AND PUT
A WALL
AROUND
IT AND DUG
A WINE
PRESS
IN IT, AND BUILT
A TOWER
, and rented
it out to 2vine-growers
and dwent
on a journey
.
"When the 1harvest
time
approached
, he asent
his slaves
to the vine-growers
to receive
his produce
.
"The vine-growers took
his slaves
and beat
one
, and killed
another
, and stoned
a third
.
"Again he asent
another
group of slaves
larger
than the first
; and they did
the same
thing
to them.
"But afterward he sent
his son
to them, saying
, `They will respect
my son
.'
"But when the vine-growers saw
the son
, they said
among
themselves
, `This
is the heir
; come
, let us kill
him and seize
his inheritance
.'
"They took him, and threw
him out of the vineyard
and killed
him.
"Therefore when
the 1owner
of the vineyard
comes
, what
will he do
to those
vine-growers
?"
They *said to Him, "He will bring
those
wretches
to a wretched
end
, and awill rent
out the vineyard
to other
vine-growers
who
will pay
him the proceeds
at the proper seasons
."
Jesus *said
to them, "Did you never
read
in the Scriptures
, ` aTHE STONE
WHICH
THE BUILDERS
REJECTED
, THIS
BECAME
THE CHIEF
CORNER
stone; THIS
CAME
ABOUT FROM THE LORD
, AND IT IS MARVELOUS
IN OUR EYES
'?
"Therefore I say
to you, the kingdom
of God
will be taken
away
from you and given
to a 1people
, producing
the fruit
of it.
"And ahe who falls on this
stone
will be broken
to pieces
; but on whomever
it falls
, it will scatter
him like
dust
."
When the chief priests
and the Pharisees
heard
His parables
, they understood
that He was speaking
about
them.
When they sought to seize
Him, they afeared
the 1people
, because
they considered
Him to be a bprophet
.