Readings for Lent and Easter

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’?”