1And when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying 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“And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,

     5“SAY 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.’”

6And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them, 7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid on them their garments, on which He sat. 8And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. 9And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying,
            “Hosanna to the Son of David;
            BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
            Hosanna in the highest!”

10And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the multitudes were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

     12And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” 14And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, 16and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABES THOU HAST PREPARED PRAISE FOR THYSELF’?” 17And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.

The Barren Fig Tree

     18Now in the morning, when He returned to the city, He became hungry. 19And seeing a lone fig 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. 20And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall 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 shall happen. 22“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”

Authority Challenged

     23And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will ask you one thing too, 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 multitude; for they all hold John to be a prophet.” 27And 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.

Parable of Two Sons

     28“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29“And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; and he did not go. 30“And he came to the second and said the same thing. But he answered and said, ‘I will not’; yet he afterward regretted it and went. 31“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The latter.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax-gatherers and harlots will 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 the tax-gatherers and harlots did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

     33“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey. 34“And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35“And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36“Again he sent 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“And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40“Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” 42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
            ‘THE 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 be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. 44“And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” 45And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46And when they sought to seize Him, they feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet.