Read the Gospels in 40 Days

The King Rides Into Jerusalem On a Donkey, As Predicted In Zechariah

21 And when they drew-near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent forth two disciples, ² saying to them, “Proceed to the village before you, and immediately you will find a donkey having been tied, and a colt with her. Having untied them, bring them to Me. ³ And if someone says something to you, you shall say that ‘The Lord has need of them’, and immediately he will send them forth”. ⁴ Now this has taken place in order that the thing might be fulfilled having been spoken through the prophet saying: ⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you— gentle, and mounted upon a donkey, even upon a colt, a foal of a beast-of-burden’” [Zech 9:9]. ⁶ And the disciples— having proceeded, and having done just as Jesus directed them— ⁷ brought the donkey and the colt. And they put their cloaks on them. And He sat on them^[a]. ⁸ And most-of the crowd^[b] spread their cloaks in the road. And others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ And the crowds going ahead of Him, and the ones following Him, were crying out, saying, “Hosanna^[c] to the Son of David. Blessed is the One coming in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest [heavens]”.

The King Arrives In Jerusalem, And The Whole City Is Shaken

¹⁰ And He having entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken^[d], saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee”.

Jesus Cleanses The Temple And Accepts Praises From Boys. The Chief Priests Object

¹² And Jesus entered into the temple. And He threw-out all the ones selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers^[e] and the seats of the ones selling the doves^[f]. ¹³ And He says to them, “It has been written [in Isa 56:7]: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’. But you are making it a den of robbers^[g]”. ¹⁴ And blind ones and lame ones came to Him in the temple, and He cured them. ¹⁵ But the chief priests and the scribes— having seen the marvelous things which He did, and the boys^[h] crying-out in the temple and saying “Hosanna to the Son of David”— were indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these boys are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes— did you never read [in Ps 8:2] that ‘You prepared-Yourself praise out of the mouth^[i] of children and nursing ones’?” ¹⁷ And having left them behind, He went outside of the city to Bethany and spent-the-night there.

Jesus Curses a Fruitless Fig Tree

¹⁸ Now early-in-the-morning while returning to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ And having seen one fig tree near the road, He went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only^[j]. And He says to it, “May fruit no longer come from you— forever”. And the fig tree was dried-up at-once. ²⁰ And having seen it, the disciples marveled, saying, “How was the fig tree dried up at once?” ²¹ And having responded, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you— if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do the thing of the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and be thrown into the sea’, it will be done. ²² And you will receive all that you ask in prayer, believing”.

The Priests Ask, By What Authority Do You Do This?

²³ And He having come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came-to Him while He was teaching, saying, “By what-kind-of ^[k] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ And having responded, Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I also will tell you by what-kind-of authority I am doing these things— ²⁵ From where was the baptism of John, from heaven or from humans?” And the ones were discussing among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven’, He will say to us, ‘Then for what reason did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From humans’, we fear the crowd. For they all are holding John as a prophet”. ²⁷ And having responded to Jesus, they said, “We do not know”. He also said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what-kind-of authority I am doing these things.

One Son Feigns Obedience, One Disobeys But Repents. Which Did The Father’s Will?

²⁸ “But what seems right to you?— A man had two children. And having gone to the first he said, ‘Child, go, work today in the vineyard’. ²⁹ And the one, having responded, said, ‘I will not’. But having regretted^[l] it later, he went. ³⁰ And having gone to the other, he spoke similarly. And the one, having responded, said, ‘I will, sir’, and he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father?” They say, “The first”.

You Priests Feign Obedience To God, But Did Not Believe John, God’s Messenger

Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going-ahead-of you into the kingdom of God. ³² For John came to you in^[m] the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And you, having seen it, did not-even regret it later, that you might believe him.

You Priests Are Like Farmers Who Killed The Owner’s Messengers And Son

³³ “Listen-to another parable. There was a man who was a house-master, who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he rented it to farmers and went-on-a-journey. ³⁴ And when the time of the fruits drew-near, he sent forth his slaves to the farmers to receive his fruits. ³⁵ And the farmers, having taken his slaves, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent-forth other slaves— more than the first. And they did similarly to them. ³⁷ But finally he sent forth his son to them, saying, ‘They will have-regard-for my son’. ³⁸ But the farmers, having seen the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us have his inheritance’. ³⁹ And having taken him, they threw him outside of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” ⁴¹ They say to Him, “He will miserably destroy the miserable ones themselves! And he will rent the vineyard to other farmers who will give-back the fruits to him in their seasons”.

The Kingdom Will Be Taken Away Because You Rejected God’s Cornerstone

⁴² Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the ones building rejected, this became the head^[n] of the corner. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? [Ps 118:22-23]. ⁴³ For this reason^[o] I say to you that the kingdom of God will be taken-away from you, and will be given to a nation^[p] producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And the one having fallen upon this stone will be broken-to-pieces^[q]. And upon whomever it may fall, it will crush^[r] him”.

When The Invited Refuse To Attend The Wedding of The King’s Son, They Are Destroyed

⁴⁵ And having heard His parables, the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And while seeking to seize Him, they feared the crowds, because they were holding Him for a prophet. 22 ¹ And having responded, Jesus again spoke in parables to them, saying, ² “The kingdom of the heavens became-like^[s] a man who was a king, who made wedding-celebrations for his son. ³ And he sent out his slaves to call the ones having been invited^[t] to the wedding-celebrations, and they were not willing to come. ⁴ Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Say to the ones having been invited, “Behold— I have prepared my luncheon^[u], my bulls and fatted-cattle having been slaughtered, and everything is prepared. Come to the wedding-celebrations”’. ⁵ But the ones, having paid-no-concern^[v], departed— one to his own field, and another on his business. ⁶ And the rest, having seized his slaves, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ And the king became angry^[w]. And having sent his troops, he destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he says to his slaves, ‘The wedding-celebration is prepared— but the ones having been invited were not worthy! ⁹ Therefore go to the outlets^[x] of the roads, and invite all-that you find to the wedding-celebrations’. ¹⁰ And having gone out into the roads, those slaves gathered-together all whom they found, both evil^[y] and good. And the wedding-hall was filled with ones reclining-back [to eat]. ¹¹ And the king, having come in to see^[z] the ones reclining-back [to eat], saw there a person not having dressed-in^[aa] the clothing of ^[ab] a wedding. ¹² And he says to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having the clothing of a wedding?’ But the one was silenced. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Having bound his feet and hands, throw him out, into the outer darkness’. In that place, there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth. ¹⁴ For many are called ones, but few are chosen ones”.

The Pharisees Try To Snare Jesus: Shall We Pay Taxes To Caesar?

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees, having gone, took counsel so that they might snare Him in a statement. ¹⁶ And they send-forth their disciples to Him, with the Herodians^[ac], saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful, and You teach the way of God in truth. And You are not concerned about [pleasing] anyone, for You do not look at the face^[ad] of people. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what seems right to You? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax^[ae] to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But having known their evilness^[af], Jesus said, “Why are you testing Me, hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the coin for the poll-tax”. And the ones brought to Him a denarius^[ag]. ²⁰ And He says to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” ²¹ They say to Him, “Caesar’s”. Then He says to them, “Then give-back^[ah] the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God”. ²² And having heard it, they marveled. And having left Him, they went away.

The Sadducees Try To Snare Jesus On The Resurrection of a Wife With Seven Husbands

²³ On that day Sadducees came to Him— ones saying that there is not a resurrection. And they questioned Him, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said [in Deut 25:5] ‘If someone dies not having children, his brother shall as-next-of-kin-marry^[ai] his wife and raise-up a seed^[aj] for his brother’. ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers with us. And the first, having married, came-to-an-end^[ak]. And not having a seed, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ Likewise also the second, and the third, up to the seventh. ²⁷ And last of all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of which of the seven will she be the wife? For they all had her!” ²⁹ But having responded, Jesus said to them, “You are mistaken^[al], not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given-in-marriage, but are like angels^[am] in heaven. ³¹ And concerning the resurrection of the dead, did you not read the thing having been spoken to you by God^[an], saying [in Ex 3:15] ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of dead ones, but of living ones”. ³³ And having heard it, the crowds were astounded at His teaching.

A Scribe Tests Jesus: Which Is The Great Commandment?

³⁴ And the Pharisees, having heard that He silenced the Sadducees, were gathered-together at the same place. ³⁵ And one of them, a Law-expert, asked Him— testing Him— ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great^[ao] commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And the One said to him: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind’ [Deut 6:5]— ³⁸ this is the great and foremost^[ap] commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ [Lev 19:18]. ⁴⁰ The whole Law and the Prophets hang^[aq] on these two commandments”.

Jesus Asks The Pharisees, If David Calls The Messiah His Lord, How Can He Be His Son?

⁴¹ Now the Pharisees having^[ar] been gathered-together, Jesus questioned them, ⁴² saying, “What seems right to you concerning the Christ— Whose son is He?” They say to Him, “David’s”. ⁴³ He says to them, “How then does David by^[as] the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’, saying [in Ps 110:1], ⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Be sitting on My right side, until I put Your enemies under Your feet”’? ⁴⁵ Therefore if David calls Him ‘Lord’, how^[at] is He his son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to question Him any more.