Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King^(A)(B)

21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,^(C) Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

⁴ This took place to fulfill^(D) what was spoken through the prophet:

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks^(F) on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet^(J) from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus at the Temple^(K)

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying^(L) and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers^(M) and the benches of those selling doves.^{(N) 13} “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’^[e](O) but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’^[f]”^(P)

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.^{(Q) 15} But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,”^(R) they were indignant.^(S)

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany,^(U) where he spent the night.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree^(V)

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.^(W)

²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,^(X) not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for^(Y) in prayer.”

The Authority of Jesus Questioned^(Z)

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority^(AA) are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”^(AB)

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’^(AC)

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors^(AD) and the prostitutes^(AE) are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,^(AF) and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors^(AG) and the prostitutes^(AH) did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent^(AI) and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants^(AJ)

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted^(AK) a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.^(AL) Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.^{(AM) 34} When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants^(AN) to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{(AO) 36} Then he sent other servants^(AP) to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.^(AQ) Come, let’s kill him^(AR) and take his inheritance.’^{(AS) 39} So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

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

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”^(AT) they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^(AU) who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

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

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^(AW) and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[i](AX)

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.^(AY)

Psalm 13^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

The Plague on the Firstborn

11 Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go^(A) from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.^{(B) 2} Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”^{(C) 3} (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed^(D) toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded^(E) in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)

⁴ So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight^(F) I will go throughout Egypt.^{(G) 5} Every firstborn^(H) son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill,^(I) and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. ⁶ There will be loud wailing^(J) throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. ⁷ But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction^(K) between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go,^(L) you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.”^(M) Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

⁹ The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen^(N) to you—so that my wonders^(O) may be multiplied in Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,^(P) and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread^(Q)

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month,^(R) the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb^[a](S) for his family, one for each household.^{(T) 4} If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect,^(U) and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month,^(V) when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.^{(W) 7} Then they are to take some of the blood^(X) and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night^(Y) they are to eat the meat roasted^(Z) over the fire, along with bitter herbs,^(AA) and bread made without yeast.^{(AB) 9} Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs.^{(AC) 10} Do not leave any of it till morning;^(AD) if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste;^(AE) it is the Lord’s Passover.^(AF)

¹² “On that same night I will pass through^(AG) Egypt and strike down^(AH) every firstborn^(AI) of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods^(AJ) of Egypt. I am the Lord.^{(AK) 13} The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over^(AL) you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.^(AM)

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate;^(AN) for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.^{(AO) 15} For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.^(AP) On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off^(AQ) from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work^(AR) at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

¹⁷ “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread,^(AS) because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.^(AT) Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.^{(AU) 18} In the first month^(AV) you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner^(AW) or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off^(AX) from the community of Israel. ²⁰ Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live,^(AY) you must eat unleavened bread.”^(AZ)

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover^(BA) lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop,^(BB) dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood^(BC) on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through the land to strike^(BD) down the Egyptians, he will see the blood^(BE) on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over^(BF) that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer^(BG) to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance^(BH) for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land^(BI) that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children^(BJ) ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover^(BK) sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”^(BL) Then the people bowed down and worshiped.^{(BM) 28} The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded^(BN) Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight^(BO) the Lord^(BP) struck down all the firstborn^(BQ) in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock^(BR) as well. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing^(BS) in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship^(BT) the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds,^(BU) as you have said, and go. And also bless^(BV) me.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry^(BW) and leave^(BX) the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”^{(BY) 34} So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs^(BZ) wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold^(CA) and for clothing.^{(CB) 36} The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed^(CC) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered^(CD) the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses^(CE) to Sukkoth.^(CF) There were about six hundred thousand men^(CG) on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people^(CH) went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out^(CI) of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

⁴⁰ Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt^[b] was 430 years.^{(CJ) 41} At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions^(CK) left Egypt.^{(CL) 42} Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.^(CM)

Passover Restrictions

⁴³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:^(CN)

“No foreigner^(CO) may eat it. ⁴⁴ Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised^(CP) him, ⁴⁵ but a temporary resident or a hired worker^(CQ) may not eat it.

⁴⁶ “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.^{(CR) 47} The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.

⁴⁸ “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.^(CS) No uncircumcised^(CT) male may eat it. ⁴⁹ The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner^(CU) residing among you.”

⁵⁰ All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded^(CV) Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt^(CW) by their divisions.^(CX)

Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.^(CY) The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

³ Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt,^(CZ) out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.^(DA) Eat nothing containing yeast.^{(DB) 4} Today, in the month of Aviv,^(DC) you are leaving. ⁵ When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites,^(DD) Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites^(DE)—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey^(DF)—you are to observe this ceremony^(DG) in this month: ⁶ For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival^(DH) to the Lord. ⁷ Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. ⁸ On that day tell your son,^(DI) ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand^(DJ) and a reminder on your forehead^(DK) that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.^{(DL) 10} You must keep this ordinance^(DM) at the appointed time^(DN) year after year.

¹¹ “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites^(DO) and gives it to you, as he promised on oath^(DP) to you and your ancestors,^{(DQ) 12} you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.^{(DR) 13} Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey,^(DS) but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.^(DT) Redeem^(DU) every firstborn among your sons.^(DV)

¹⁴ “In days to come, when your son^(DW) asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.^{(DX) 15} When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’^{(DY) 16} And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead^(DZ) that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

Crossing the Sea

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”^{(EA) 18} So God led^(EB) the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.^[c] The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.^(EC)

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph^(ED) with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”^[d](EE)

²⁰ After leaving Sukkoth^(EF) they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.^{(EG) 21} By day the Lord went ahead^(EH) of them in a pillar of cloud^(EI) to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left^(EJ) its place in front of the people.