Jesus at the Temple^(A)

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

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.^{(G) 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,”^(H) they were indignant.^(I)

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,^(K) where he spent the night.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree^(L)

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.^(M)

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,^(N) 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^(O) in prayer.”

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus^(A) went up from Caesarea^(B) to Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.^{(C) 3} They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.^{(D) 4} Festus answered, “Paul is being held^(E) at Caesarea,^(F) and I myself am going there soon. ⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

⁶ After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court^(G) and ordered that Paul be brought before him.^{(H) 7} When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him,^(I) but they could not prove them.^(J)

⁸ Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple^(K) or against Caesar.”

⁹ Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor,^(L) said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”^(M)

¹⁰ Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews,^(N) as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”^(O)

¹² After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”