Cleansing the Temple

^12 (A)And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the ^(B)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(C)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘^(D)My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(E)den of robbers.”

¹⁴ And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and ^(F)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “^[a]Hosanna to the ^(G)Son of David,” they became indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘^(H)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”

^11 (A)And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, ^(B)He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was ^(A)righteous and devout, ^(B)looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And ^(C)it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(D)see death before he had seen the Lord’s ^[a]Christ. ²⁷ And he came ^[b]by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, ^[c](E)to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

³³ And His father and ^(I)mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to ^(J)His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for ^(K)the fall and ^[e]rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be ^[f]opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a ^(L)prophetess, ^[g]Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of ^(M)the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in ^[h]years ^(N)and had lived with her husband for seven years after her ^[i]marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with ^(O)fasts and prayers. ³⁸ And at that very ^[j]moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were ^(P)looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to ^(Q)their own city of Nazareth. ^40 (R)Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, ^[k]increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.

Visit to Jerusalem

⁴¹ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at ^(S)the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the ^(T)full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him ^(U)were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

Traders Driven from the Temple

^45 (A)And Jesus entered the temple grounds and began to drive out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written: ‘^(B)And My house will be a house of prayer,’ ^(C)but you have made it a den of robbers.”

⁴⁷ And ^(D)He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people ^(E)were trying to put Him to death,