The Triumphal Entry

11 ^(A)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^(B)Bethphage and Bethany, at ^(C)the Mount of Olives, Jesus^[a] sent ^(D)two of his disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, ^(E)on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴ And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵ And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. ⁷ And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸ And many ^(F)spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹ And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ^(G)“Hosanna! ^(H)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰ Blessed is ^(I)the coming ^(J)kingdom of ^(K)our father ^(L)David! ^(M)Hosanna ^(N)in the highest!”

^11 (O)And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, ^(P)he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^12 (Q)On the following day, when they came from Bethany, ^(R)he was hungry. ^13 (S)And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for ^(T)it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^15 (U)And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^(V)the money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^(W)pigeons. ¹⁶ And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ^(X)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But ^(Y)you have made it a den of robbers.” ¹⁸ And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and ^(Z)were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^(AA)all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. ^19 (AB)And when evening came they^[b] went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

^20 (AC)As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, ^(AD)“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have ^(AE)faith in God. ^23 (AF)Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ^(AG)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not ^(AH)doubt in his heart, but ^(AI)believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, ^(AJ)whatever you ask in prayer, ^(AK)believe that you ^(AL)have received^[c] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever ^(AM)you stand praying, ^(AN)forgive, ^(AO)if you have anything against anyone, so that ^(AP)your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”^[d]

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^27 (AQ)And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, ²⁸ and they said to him, ^(AR)“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John ^(AS)from heaven or from man? Answer me.” ³¹ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(AT)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^(AU)they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^(AV)a prophet. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

12 ^(AW)And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^(AX)a vineyard ^(AY)and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^(AZ)leased it to tenants and ^(BA)went into another country. ² When the season came, he sent a servant^[e] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^3 (BB)And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ^4 (BC)Again ^(BD)he sent to them another servant, and ^(BE)they struck him on the head and ^(BF)treated him shamefully. ^5 (BG)And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. ⁶ He had still one other, ^(BH)a beloved son. ^(BI)Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ^(BJ)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(BK)let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him and ^(BL)threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^(BM)He will ^(BN)come and destroy the tenants and ^(BO)give the vineyard to others. ^10 (BP)Have you not read ^(BQ)this Scripture:

¹² And ^(BS)they were seeking to arrest him ^(BT)but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they ^(BU)left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^13 (BV)And they sent to him some of ^(BW)the Pharisees and some of ^(BX)the Herodians, to ^(BY)trap him in his talk. ¹⁴ And they came and said to him, “Teacher, ^(BZ)we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For ^(CA)you are not swayed by appearances,^[g] but truly teach ^(CB)the way of God. Is it lawful to pay ^(CC)taxes to ^(CD)Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” ¹⁵ But, knowing ^(CE)their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why ^(CF)put me to the test? Bring me ^(CG)a denarius^[h] and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, ^(CH)“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

¹⁸ And ^(CI)Sadducees came to him, ^(CJ)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(CK)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man^[i] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. ²² And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. ²³ In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because ^(CL)you know neither the Scriptures nor ^(CM)the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither ^(CN)marry nor ^(CO)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, ^(CP)have you not read in ^(CQ)the book of Moses, in ^(CR)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ^(CS)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

^28 (CT)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(CU)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(CV)the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ^31 (CW)The second is this: ^(CX)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(CY)greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(CZ)he is one, and ^(DA)there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(DB)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(DC)is much more than all ^(DD)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(DE)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^35 (DF)And as ^(DG)Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that ^(DH)the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, ^(DI)in the Holy Spirit, declared,

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord. So ^(DL)how is he his son?” And the great throng ^(DM)heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

^38 (DN)And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and ^(DO)the places of honor at feasts, ^40 (DP)who devour widows' houses and ^(DQ)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

^41 (DR)And he sat down opposite ^(DS)the treasury and watched the people ^(DT)putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² And a poor widow came and put in two ^(DU)small copper coins, which make a penny.^{[j] 43} And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(DV)this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. ⁴⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^(DW)poverty has put in everything she had, all ^(DX)she had to live on.”

7 ^(A)“This is the law of the ^(B)guilt offering. ^(C)It is most holy. ^2 (D)In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the guilt offering, and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar. ³ And ^(E)all its fat shall be offered, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, ⁴ the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove ^(F)with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the Lord; it is a guilt offering. ^6 (G)Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. ^(H)It is most holy. ⁷ The ^(I)guilt offering is just like the sin offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it. ⁸ And the priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered. ⁹ And ^(J)every grain offering baked ^(K)in the oven and all that is prepared ^(L)on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it. ¹⁰ And every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron.

¹¹ “And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. ¹² If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice ^(M)unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour ^(N)well mixed with oil. ^13 (O)With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. ¹⁴ And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a ^(P)gift to the Lord. ^(Q)It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. ¹⁵ And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings ^(R)for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. ¹⁶ But ^(S)if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. ¹⁷ But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. ¹⁸ If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is ^(T)tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁹ “Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned up with fire. All who are clean may eat flesh, ²⁰ but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offerings ^(U)while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people. ²¹ And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether ^(V)human uncleanness or an ^(W)unclean beast or any ^(X)unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people.”

²² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^(Y)You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. ²⁴ The fat of an animal ^(Z)that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. ²⁵ For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the Lord shall be cut off from his people. ²⁶ Moreover, ^(AA)you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. ²⁷ Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.”

²⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁹ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^(AB)Whoever offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. ^30 (AC)His own hands shall bring the Lord's food offerings. He shall bring the fat with ^(AD)the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. ^31 (AE)The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but ^(AF)the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons. ³² And ^(AG)the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifice of your peace offerings. ³³ Whoever among the sons of Aaron offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh for a portion. ³⁴ For the breast that is ^(AH)waved and the thigh that is ^(AI)contributed I have taken from the people of Israel, out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and ^(AJ)have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons, as a perpetual due from the people of Israel. ³⁵ This is the portion of Aaron and of his sons from the Lord's food offerings, from the day they were presented to serve as priests of the Lord. ³⁶ The Lord commanded this to be given them by the people of Israel, ^(AK)from the day that he anointed them. It is a perpetual due throughout their generations.”

³⁷ This is the law ^(AL)of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, ^(AM)of the guilt offering, ^(AN)of the ordination offering, and ^(AO)of the peace offering, ³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded the people of Israel ^(AP)to bring their offerings to the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.