Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

¹Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii2 and ngiven to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus4 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, owhom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²The next day rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of spalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, t“Hosanna! Blessed is uhe who comes in the name of the Lord, even vthe King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵w“Fear not, daughter of Zion;

behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey's colt!”

¹⁶xHis disciples did not understand these things at first, but ywhen Jesus was glorified, then zthey remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸The reason why the crowd went to meet him bwas that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, c“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, dthe world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now eamong those who went up to worship at the feast were some fGreeks. ²¹So these came to gPhilip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told hAndrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, i“The hour has come jfor the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, kunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵lWhoever loves his life loses it, and mwhoever nhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must ofollow me; and pwhere I am, there will my servant be also. qIf anyone serves me, rthe Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷s“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, tsave me from uthis hour’? But vfor this purpose I have come to uthis hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then wa voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, x“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, y“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹zNow is the judgment of this world; now will athe ruler of this world bbe cast out. ³²And I, cwhen I am lifted up from the earth, dwill draw eall people to myself.” ³³He said this fto show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that gthe Christ remains forever. How can you say that hthe Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, i“The light is among you jfor a little while longer. kWalk while you have the light, lest darkness lovertake you. mThe one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become nsons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸oso that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

p“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹Therefore they qcould not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰r“He has blinded their eyes

and shardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because the saw his glory and uspoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless, vmany even of the authorities believed in him, but wfor fear of the Pharisees they did not xconfess it, so that they would not be xput out of the synagogue; ⁴³yfor they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, z“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ain him who sent me. ⁴⁵And bwhoever csees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶dI have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone ehears my words and does not keep them, fI do not judge him; for gI did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸hThe one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ithe word that I have spoken will judge him jon the last day. ⁴⁹For kI have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father lwho sent me has himself given me ma commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

Jesus and Zacchaeus

¹cHe entered Jericho and was passing through. ²And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³And dhe was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. ⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up into ea sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. ⁵And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for fI must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he hurried and came down and greceived him joyfully. ⁷And when they saw it, they all hgrumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ⁸And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods iI give to the poor. And if I have jdefrauded anyone of anything, I restore it kfourfold.” ⁹And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since lhe also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For mthe Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because nthey supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. ¹²He said therefore, o“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³Calling pten of his servants,1 he gave them ten minas,2 and said to them, ‘Engage in business quntil I come.’ ¹⁴But rhis citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ ¹⁵When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. ¹⁶The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ ¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!3 Because you have been sfaithful in a very little, tyou shall have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ ²⁰Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in ua handkerchief; ²¹for I was afraid of you, because you are va severe man. You take wwhat you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ ²²He said to him, x‘I will condemn you with your own words, yyou wicked servant! You knew that I was va severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ ²⁵And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ²⁶‘I tell you that zto everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷But ras for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and aslaughter them before me.’”

The Triumphal Entry

²⁸And when he had said these things, bhe went on ahead, cgoing up to Jerusalem. ²⁹dWhen he drew near to Bethphage and eBethany, at fthe mount that is called Olivet, he sent gtwo of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, hon which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” ³²So those who were sent went away and found it ijust as he had told them. ³³And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” ³⁵And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. ³⁶And as he rode along, they jspread their cloaks on the road. ³⁷As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—kthe whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice lfor all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸saying, m“Blessed is nthe King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and oglory in the highest!” ³⁹pAnd some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, qthe very stones would cry out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹rAnd when he drew near and saw the city, she wept over it, ⁴²saying, t“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now uthey are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³For vthe days will come upon you, when your enemies wwill set up a barricade around you and xsurround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴yand tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And zthey will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know athe time of your bvisitation.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

⁴⁵cAnd he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, ⁴⁶saying to them, “It is written, d‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but eyou have made it a den of robbers.”

⁴⁷fAnd he was teaching daily in the temple. gThe chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, ⁴⁸but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

The Triumphal Entry

¹qNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to rthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ssent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴This took place tto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵u“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

vhumble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt,1 the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸Most of the crowd wspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, x“Hosanna to ythe Son of David! zBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ain the highest!” ¹⁰And bwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹And the crowds said, “This is cthe prophet Jesus, dfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹²eAnd Jesus entered the temple2 and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold gpigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but iyou make it a den of robbers.”

¹⁴jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; lhave you never read,

m“‘Out of the mouth of ninfants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And oleaving them, he pwent out of the city to qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹⁸rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, she became hungry. ¹⁹tAnd seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered them, u“Truly, I say to you, vif you have faith and wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, yif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²³zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him aas he was teaching, and said, b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵The baptism of John, cfrom where did it come? dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ga prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ithe vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he jchanged his mind and went. ³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, kthe tax collectors and lthe prostitutes go into mthe kingdom of God before you. ³²For John came to you nin the way of righteousness, and oyou did not believe him, but pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward jchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

³³q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ra vineyard sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and tleased it to tenants, and uwent into another country. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants3 to the tenants tto get his fruit. ³⁵vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and wstoned another. ³⁶xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, y‘This is the heir. Come, zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹And they took him and athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

f“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;4

this was the Lord's doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God gwill be taken away from you and given to a people hproducing its fruits. ⁴⁴And ithe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”5

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be na prophet.