Matthew 21:1-11
Contemporary English Version
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
21 When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. 2 He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, ‘The Lord[a] needs them.’ Right away he will let you have the donkeys.”
4 So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said,
5 “Announce to the people
of Jerusalem:
‘Your king is coming to you!
He is humble
and rides on a donkey.
He comes on the colt
of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. 7 They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.
8 Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches[b] which they had cut from trees. 9 Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting,
“Hooray[c] for the Son of David![d]
God bless the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hooray for God
in heaven above!”
10 When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be?”
11 The crowd answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 21.3 The Lord: Or “The master of the donkeys.”
- 21.8 spread clothes. . . put down branches: This was one way that the Jewish people welcomed a famous person.
- 21.9 Hooray: This translates a word that can mean “please save us.” But it is most often used as a shout of praise to God.
- 21.9,15 Son of David: See the note at 9.27.
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