The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(A)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^(B)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^(C)sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately 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 shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place ^(D)to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd ^(G)spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^(H)“Hosanna to ^(I)the Son of David! ^(J)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^(K)in the highest!” ¹⁰ And ^(L)when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is ^(M)the prophet Jesus, ^(N)from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12 (O)And Jesus entered the temple^[b] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^(P)the money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^(Q)pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ^(R)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ^(S)you make it a den of robbers.”

^14 (T)And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15 (U)But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^(V)“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^(W)have you never read,

¹⁷ And ^(Z)leaving them, he ^(AA)went out of the city to ^(AB)Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18 (AC)In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^(AD)he became hungry. ^19 (AE)And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered them, ^(AF)“Truly, I say to you, ^(AG)if you have faith and ^(AH)do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^(AI)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(AJ)whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^(AK)if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23 (AL)And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^(AM)as he was teaching, and said, ^(AN)“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, ^(AO)from where did it come? ^(AP)From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^(AQ)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^(AR)we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^(AS)a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “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 (AT)“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^(AU)the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^(AV)changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AW)the tax collectors and ^(AX)the prostitutes go into ^(AY)the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you ^(AZ)in the way of righteousness, and ^(BA)you did not believe him, but ^(BB)the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^(BC)change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (BD)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(BE)a vineyard ^(BF)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(BG)leased it to tenants, and ^(BH)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[c] to the tenants ^(BI)to get his fruit. ^35 (BJ)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(BK)stoned another. ^36 (BL)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(BM)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(BN)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(BO)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (BP)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(BQ)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(BR)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(BS)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(BU)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(BV)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(BW)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(BX)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[e]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(BY)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(BZ)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(CA)a prophet.

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before ^(A)the Passover, ^(B)Jesus therefore came to Bethany, ^(C)where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. ^(D)Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ^3 (E)Mary therefore took a pound^[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and ^(F)given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(G)having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it^[c] for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus^[d] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, ^(H)whom he had raised from the dead. ^10 (I)So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ because ^(J)on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The next day ^(K)the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of ^(L)palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ^(M)“Hosanna! Blessed is ^(N)he who comes in the name of the Lord, even ^(O)the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

^16 (Q)His disciples did not understand these things at first, but ^(R)when Jesus was glorified, then ^(S)they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ^17 (T)The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^(U)was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, ^(V)“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, ^(W)the world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now ^(X)among those who went up to worship at the feast were some ^(Y)Greeks. ²¹ So these came to ^(Z)Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told ^(AA)Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, ^(AB)“The hour has come ^(AC)for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AD)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (AE)Whoever loves his life loses it, and ^(AF)whoever ^(AG)hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must ^(AH)follow me; and ^(AI)where I am, there will my servant be also. ^(AJ)If anyone serves me, ^(AK)the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

^27 (AL)“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^(AM)save me from ^(AN)this hour’? But ^(AO)for this purpose I have come to ^(AP)this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then ^(AQ)a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^(AR)“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, ^(AS)“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ^31 (AT)Now is the judgment of this world; now will ^(AU)the ruler of this world ^(AV)be cast out. ³² And I, ^(AW)when I am lifted up from the earth, ^(AX)will draw ^(AY)all people to myself.” ³³ He said this ^(AZ)to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴ So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that ^(BA)the Christ remains forever. How can you say that ^(BB)the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, ^(BC)“The light is among you ^(BD)for a little while longer. ^(BE)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness ^(BF)overtake you. ^(BG)The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(BH)sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ^38 (BI)so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

³⁹ Therefore they ^(BK)could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because ^(BN)he saw his glory and ^(BO)spoke of him. ⁴² Nevertheless, ^(BP)many even of the authorities believed in him, but ^(BQ)for fear of the Pharisees they did not ^(BR)confess it, so that they would not be ^(BS)put out of the synagogue; ^43 (BT)for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, ^(BU)“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^(BV)in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And ^(BW)whoever ^(BX)sees me sees him who sent me. ^46 (BY)I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone ^(BZ)hears my words and does not keep them, ^(CA)I do not judge him; for ^(CB)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ^48 (CC)The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ^(CD)the word that I have spoken will judge him ^(CE)on the last day. ⁴⁹ For ^(CF)I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father ^(CG)who sent me has himself given me ^(CH)a commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”