Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell him, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’” ⁴ This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:

⁶ The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus. They laid their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road before Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. All the people were shouting,

¹⁰ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. The city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowd answered, “This man is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

11 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. They came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of his followers. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you see there. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him, ‘The Master needs the colt. He will send it back soon.’”

⁴ The followers went into the town. They found a colt tied in the street near the door of a house, and they untied it. ⁵ Some people were standing there and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?” ⁶ The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer. And the people let them take the colt.

⁷ The followers brought the colt to Jesus. They put their coats on the colt, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches in the fields and spread the branches on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were following him. All of them were shouting,

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. When he had looked at everything, and since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12 apostles.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

²⁸ After Jesus said this, he went on toward Jerusalem. ²⁹ Jesus came near Bethphage and Bethany, towns near the hill called the Mount of Olives. Then he sent out two of his followers. ³⁰ He said, “Go into the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied there. No one has ever ridden this colt. Untie it, and bring it here to me. ³¹ If anyone asks you why you are taking it, say, ‘The Master needs it.’”

³² The two followers went into town. They found the colt just as Jesus told them. ³³ The followers untied it, but the owners of the colt came out. They asked the followers, “Why are you untying our colt?”

³⁴ The followers answered, “The Master needs it.” ³⁵ So they brought it to Jesus. They threw their coats on the colt’s back and put Jesus on it. ³⁶ As Jesus rode toward Jerusalem, the followers spread their coats on the road before him.

³⁷ Jesus was coming close to Jerusalem. He was already near the bottom of the Mount of Olives. The whole crowd of followers was very happy. They began shouting praise to God for all the powerful works they had seen. They said,

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell your followers not to say these things!”

⁴⁰ But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if my followers don’t say these things, then the stones will cry out.”

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day a great crowd in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the people who had come to the Passover Feast. ¹³ They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him. And they remembered that they had done these things to him.

People Tell About Jesus

¹⁷ There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.”