New American Standard Bible 1995

New Living Translation

1When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

1As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.

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.

2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. 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."

3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”

4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

4This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,

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.'"

5“Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’”

6The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them,

6The two disciples did as Jesus commanded.

7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.

7They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.

8Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

8Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

9The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!"

9Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Praise God in highest heaven!”

10When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?"

10The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.

11And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

11And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Jesus Clears the Temple

12And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all 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.

12Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those 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."

13He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

14And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

14The 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 shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant

15The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” But the leaders were indignant.

16and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?"

16They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’ ”

17And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

17Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight. Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

18In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry,

19Seeing 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.

19and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.

20Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?"

20The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

21And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to 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 say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

21Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.

22"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"

23When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

24Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied.

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?'

25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John.

26"But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet."

26But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was 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.

27So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things. Parable of the 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.'

28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’

29"And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.

29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway.

30"The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.

30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t 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 the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.

31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.

32"For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins. Parable of the Evil Farmers

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.

33 “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

34"When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce.

34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop.

35"The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

36"Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them.

36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

37"But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely 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.'

38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’

39"They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

40"Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?"

40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

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."

41The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

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 '?

42Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD ’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’

43"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

44"And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."

44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. ”

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

45When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers.

46When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.