The Triumphal Entry

21 When they approached Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples [ahead],^{(A) 2} saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you should say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and without delay the owner will send them [with you].” ⁴ This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:

⁶ Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and they brought the donkey and ^[a]the colt, and ^[b]placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],

¹⁰ When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

¹² And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice].^{(D) 13} Jesus said to them, “It is written [in Scripture], ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”^(E)

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple area, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the ^[d]boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], “Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah),” they became indignant ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus replied to them, “Yes; have you never read [in the Scripture], ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared and provided praise for Yourself’?”^{(F) 17} Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Barren Fig Tree

¹⁸ Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.^{(G) 19} Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, “Never again will fruit come from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?” ²¹ Jesus replied to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen [if God wills it].^{(H) 22} And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Authority Challenged

²³ When He entered the temple area, the ^[e]chief priests and elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what [kind of] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority [to exercise this power]?”^{(I) 24} Jesus replied to them, “I will also ask you a question, and if you tell Me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John—from where did it come? From heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?” And they began debating among themselves [considering the implications of their answer], saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the [response of the] crowd; for they all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what [kind of] authority I do these things.”

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father?” The chief priests and elders replied, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you [walking] in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even change your mind afterward and believe him [accepting what he proclaimed to you].

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 tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country].^{(J) 34} When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit. ³⁵ But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they treated them the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son and have regard for him.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This [man] is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took the son and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to Him, “He will put those despicable men to a miserable end, and rent out the vineyard to other tenants [of good character] who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to [another] people who will produce the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”^(L)

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them. ⁴⁶ And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Jesus as a prophet.

Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ And he sent his servants to call those who had [previously] been invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come. ⁴ Then he sent out some other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened calves are butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention [they disregarded the invitation, treating it with contempt] and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. ⁶ The rest [of the invited guests] seized his servants and mistreated them [insulting and humiliating them] and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged [when he heard this], and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding [feast] is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go to the main highways that lead out of the city, and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ Those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all the people they could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests [sitting at the banquet table].

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed [appropriately] in wedding clothes, ¹² and he said, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes [that were provided for you]?’ And the man was speechless and without excuse. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].’ ¹⁴ For many are called (invited, summoned), but few are chosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and conspired together plotting how to trap Him by [distorting] what He said.^{(M) 16} They sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^[g]Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are sincere and that You teach the way of God truthfully, without concerning Yourself about [what] anyone [thinks or says of Your teachings]; for You are impartial and do not seek anyone’s favor [and You treat all people alike, regardless of status]. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay a ^[h]poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, asked, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius [a day’s wage]. ²⁰ And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “[^[i]The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard this, they were caught off guard, and they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

²³ On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and asked Him a question,^{(N) 24} saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother as next of kin shall ^[j]marry his widow, and raise children for his brother.’^{(O) 25} Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ The second also [died childless], and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

²⁹ But Jesus replied to them, “You are all wrong because you know neither the Scriptures [which teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [for He is able to raise the dead]. ³⁰ For in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven [who do not marry nor produce children]. ³¹ But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read [in the Scripture] what God said to you: ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”^{(P) 33} When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.^{(Q) 35} One of them, a lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law], asked Jesus a question, to test Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”^{(R) 37} And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^{(S) 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’^{(T) 40} The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were [still] gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:^{(U) 42} “What do you [Pharisees] think of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “^[k]The son of David.” ⁴³ Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ So then, if David calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord,’ ^[l]how is He David’s son?” ⁴⁶ No one was able to say a word to Him in answer, nor from that day on did anyone dare to question Him again.