^aWhen they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at ^bthe Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” 4 Now ^athis ¹took place so that what was spoken through ²the prophet would be fulfilled:

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on ¹the cloaks. 8 Most of the crowd ^aspread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,“¹Hosanna to the ^aSon of David;^bBLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;²Hosanna ^cin the highest!” 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is ^aJesus the prophet, from ^bNazareth in Galilee.”

12 ^aAnd Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the ^bmoney changers and the seats of those who were selling ^cdoves. 13 And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘^aMY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ^bDEN OF ROBBERS.”

14 And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and ^aHe healed them. 15 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 area, “¹Hosanna to the ^aSon of David,” they became indignant, 16 and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘^aFROM THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to ^aBethany, and spent the night there.

18 ^aNow in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 And seeing a lone ^afig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and ¹asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 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. 22 And ^awhatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

23 ^aWhen He entered the temple area, 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?” 24 But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one ¹question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ¹people; for they all regard John as ^aa prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

28 “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.’ 29 But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go. 31 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. 32 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 ¹have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

33 “Listen to another parable. ^aThere was a ¹landowner who ^bPLANTED A ^cVINEYARD AND PUT A ²FENCE AROUND IT, AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and he leased it to ³vine-growers and ^dwent on a journey. 34 And when the ¹harvest time approached, he ^asent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he ^asent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the ¹owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and ^alease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,‘^aA STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS HAS BECOME THE ¹CHIEF CORNERSTONE;THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a ¹people producing its fruit. 44 And ^athe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 And although they sought to arrest Him, they ^afeared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a ^bprophet.

^aWhen they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at ^bthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 ^aThis ¹took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on ¹the coats. 8 Most of the crowd ^aspread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 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!” 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is ^athe prophet Jesus, from ^bNazareth in Galilee.”

12 ^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. 13 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.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and ^aHe healed them. 15 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 16 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’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to ^aBethany, and spent the night there.

18 ^aNow in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 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.

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 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. 22 And ^aall things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

23 ^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?” 24 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. 25 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?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ¹people; for they all regard John as ^aa prophet.” 27 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.

28 “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.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 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. 32 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.

33 “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. 34 When the ¹harvest time approached, he ^asent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he ^asent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 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.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the ¹owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 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.”

42 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’? 43 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. 44 And ^ahe who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they ^afeared the ¹people, because they considered Him to be a ^bprophet.