Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may ^(A)tell you what shall befall you ^(B)in the last days:

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁹ Then he charged them and said to them: “I ^(AO)am to be gathered to my people; ^(AP)bury me with my fathers ^(AQ)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, ^(AR)which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ^31 (AS)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, ^(AT)there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Burial of Jacob

50 Then Joseph ^(AU)fell on his father’s face and ^(AV)wept over him, and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(AW)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians ^(AX)mourned^[h] for him seventy days.

⁴ Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to ^(AY)the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, ^5 (AZ)‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave ^(BA)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

¹⁰ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they ^(BB)mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. ^(BC)He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called ^[i]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. ¹³ For ^(BD)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham ^(BE)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, ^(BF)they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may ^[j]actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; ^(BG)for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of ^(BH)the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also went and ^(BI)fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, ^(BJ)“Do not be afraid, ^(BK)for am I in the place of God? ^20 (BL)But as for you, you meant evil against me; but ^(BM)God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore, do not be afraid; ^(BN)I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke ^[k]kindly to them.

Death of Joseph^(BO)

²² So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. ²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children ^(BP)to the third generation. ^(BQ)The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, ^(BR)were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but ^(BS)God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land ^(BT)of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(BU)Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely ^[l]visit you, and ^(BV)you shall carry up my ^(BW)bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

The Triumphal Entry^(A)

21 Now ^(B)when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to ^[a]Bethphage, at ^(C)the 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, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

^4 [b]All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

^6 (E)So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, ^(F)laid their clothes on them, ^[c]and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; ^(G)others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

^10 (I)And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, ^(J)the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(K)

^12 (L)Then Jesus went into the temple ^[d]of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the ^(M)money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ^(N)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ^(O)‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the ^(P)Son of David!” they were ^[e]indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

¹⁷ Then He left them and ^(R)went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

The Fig Tree Withered^(S)

^18 (T)Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ^19 (U)And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree^(V)

^20 (W)And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

²¹ So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(X)if you have faith and ^(Y)do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, ^(Z)but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²² And ^(AA)whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(AB)

^23 (AC)Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and ^(AD)said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The ^(AE)baptism of ^(AF)John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we ^(AG)fear the multitude, ^(AH)for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The 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 my ^(AI)vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^(AJ)“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For ^(AK)John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^(AL)but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ^[f]relent and believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers^(AM)

³³ “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner ^(AN)who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and ^(AO)went into a far country. ³⁴ Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ^35 (AP)And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent his ^(AQ)son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ^(AR)‘This is the heir. ^(AS)Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ^39 (AT)So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

^41 (AU)They said to Him, ^(AV)“He will destroy those wicked men miserably, ^(AW)and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will ^[g]render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

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

⁴³ “Therefore I say to you, ^(AY)the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And ^(AZ)whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, ^(BA)it will grind him to powder.”

⁴⁵ Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they ^[h]perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they ^(BB)feared the multitudes, because ^(BC)they took Him for a prophet.

Joy in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.