²⁹ As He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives,^(A) He sent two of the disciples ³⁰ and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³² So those who were sent left and found it just as He had told them.^{(B) 33} As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”

³⁴ “The Lord needs it,” they said. ³⁵ Then^(C) they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it.^{(D) 36} As He was going along, they were spreading their robes on the road.^{(E) 37} Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!”^(J)

Jesus’ Love for Jerusalem

⁴¹ As He approached and saw the city, He wept^(K) over it, ⁴² saying, “If you knew^(L) this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden^(M) from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come on you^(N) when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.^{(O) 44} They will crush you and your children within you to the ground,^(P) and they will not leave one stone on another^(Q) in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”^(R)

Cleansing the Temple Complex

⁴⁵ He^(S) went into the temple complex and began to throw out those who were selling,^{[c] 46} and He said, “It is written, My house will be a house of prayer,^(T) but you have made it a den of thieves!”^(U)[d]

⁴⁷ Every day He was teaching^(V) in the temple complex. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to destroy^(W) Him, ⁴⁸ but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people^(X) were captivated by what they heard.^[e]