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)

The Parable of the Tenants^(A)

12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard.^(B) He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ² At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶ “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,^(C) saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

¹² Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd;^(F) so they left him and went away.^(G)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(H)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians^(I) to Jesus to catch him^(J) in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[b] to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”^(K)

And they were amazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection^(L)

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees,^(M) who say there is no resurrection,^(N) came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(O) 20} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection^[c] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(P) or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^{(Q) 26} Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[d]?^{(R) 27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment^(S)

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law^(T) came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[e] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[f](U) 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[g](V) There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.^{(W) 33} To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^(X)

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^(Y) And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.^(Z)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?^(AA)(AB)

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts,^(AC) he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?^{(AD) 36} David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit,^(AE) declared:

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd^(AG) listened to him with delight.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

³⁸ As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.^{(AH) 40} They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

The Widow’s Offering^(AI)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put^(AJ) and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”^(AK)