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.

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The Authority of Jesus Challenged

¹hOne day, ias Jesus1 was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, jthe chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ²and said to him, “Tell us kby what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, ⁴was the baptism of John lfrom heaven or from man?” ⁵And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, m‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was na prophet.” ⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹oAnd he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted pa vineyard and qlet it out to tenants and rwent into another country for a long while. ¹⁰When the time came, he sent a servant2 to the tenants, so that qthey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. sBut the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹tAnd she sent another servant. But they also beat and utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²sAnd he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, w‘This is the heir. xLet us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵And they ythrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶zHe will acome and destroy those tenants and bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” ¹⁷But he clooked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

d“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?3

¹⁸eEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls fon anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹hThe scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. ²⁰iSo they jwatched him and sent spies, who kpretended to be sincere, that they might lcatch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of mthe governor. ²¹So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and oshow no partiality,4 but truly teach pthe way of God. ²²Is it lawful for us to give qtribute to rCaesar, or not?” ²³But he perceived their scraftiness, and said to them, ²⁴“Show me ta denarius.5 Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” ²⁵He said to them, “Then urender to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²⁶And they were not able in the presence of the people vto catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷There came to him wsome Sadducees, xthose who deny that there is a resurrection, ²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ythat if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man6 must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰And the second ³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. ³²Afterward the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, z“The sons of this age amarry and aare given in marriage, ³⁵but those who are bconsidered worthy to attain to cthat age and to the resurrection from the dead dneither marry dnor are given in marriage, ³⁶for ethey cannot die anymore, because they are fequal to angels and gare hsons of God, being isons7 of the resurrection. ³⁷But that the dead are raised, jeven Moses showed, in kthe passage about the bush, where he calls lthe Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all mlive to him.” ³⁹Then some of the scribes nanswered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰For othey no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹pBut he said to them, “How can they say that qthe Christ is qDavid's son? ⁴²For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

r“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

⁴³until I make your enemies syour footstool.”’

⁴⁴David thus calls him Lord, so thow is he his son?”

Beware of the Scribes

⁴⁵uAnd in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and vthe places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁷wwho devour widows' houses and xfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

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The Widow's Offering

¹yJesus1 looked up and saw the rich zputting their gifts into athe offering box, ²and he saw a poor widow put in two bsmall copper coins.2 ³And he said, “Truly, I tell you, cthis poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her dpoverty put in all eshe had to live on.”

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

⁵fAnd while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ⁶“As for these things that you see, gthe days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” ⁷And they asked him, “Teacher, hwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸And he said, i“See that you are not led astray. For jmany will come in my name, saying, k‘I am he!’ and, l‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. ⁹And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be mterrified, for these things nmust first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution

¹⁰Then he said to them, o“Nation will rise against nation, and pkingdom against kingdom. ¹¹There will be great qearthquakes, and in various places rfamines and pestilences. And there will be sterrors and great tsigns from heaven. ¹²But before all this uthey will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to vthe synagogues and wprisons, and you xwill be brought before ykings and zgovernors for my name's sake. ¹³aThis will be your opportunity to bear witness. ¹⁴Settle it therefore in your minds bnot to meditate beforehand how to answer, ¹⁵for cI will give you a mouth and dwisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or econtradict. ¹⁶You will be delivered up feven by parents and brothers3 and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ¹⁷gYou will be hated by all for my name's sake. ¹⁸But hnot a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹By your iendurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

²⁰“But jwhen you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that kits desolation has come near. ²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, ²²for these are ldays of mvengeance, to fulfill nall that is written. ²³oAlas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and pwrath against this people. ²⁴They will fall by the edge of the sword and qbe led captive among all nations, and rJerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, suntil the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵“And tthere will be signs in sun and moon uand stars, and on the earth vdistress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For wthe powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷And then they will see xthe Son of Man coming in a cloud ywith power and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and zraise your heads, because ayour redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁹And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰As soon as they come out in leaf, you see bfor yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²cTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ³³dHeaven and earth will pass away, but emy words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

³⁴“But watch yourselves flest gyour hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and hcares of this life, and ithat day come upon you suddenly jlike a trap. ³⁵For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶But kstay awake at all times, lpraying that you may mhave strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and nto stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷And oevery day he was teaching in the temple, but pat night he went out and lodged on qthe mount called Olivet. ³⁸And early in the morning oall the people came to him in the temple to hear him.

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