(Zechariah 9:9–13; Mark 11:1–11; Luke 19:28–40; John 12:12–19)
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And when they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
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saying to them, “Go on into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey bound, and a colt with her—having loosed, you bring to Me;
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and if anyone may say anything to you, you will say that the LORD has need of them, and immediately He will send them.”
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And all this came to pass, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying,
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“Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and mounted on a donkey, and a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.”
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And the disciples having gone and having done as Jesus commanded them,
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brought the donkey and the colt, and put on them their garments, and set [Him] on them;
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and the very great multitude spread their own garments in the way, and others were cutting branches from the trees, and were strewing in the way,
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and the multitudes who were going before, and who were following, were crying, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who is coming in the Name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”
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And He having entered into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
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And the multitudes said, “This is Jesus the prophet, who [is] from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
(Mark 11:15–19; Luke 19:45–48; John 2:12–25)
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And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers He overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves,
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and He says to them, “It has been written: My house will be called a house of prayer; but you made it a den of robbers.”
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And there came to Him blind and lame men in the temple, and He healed them,
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and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” were much displeased;
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and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these say?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes, did you never read, that, Out of the mouth of babies and sucklings You prepared praise?”
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And having left them, He went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there,
The Barren Fig Tree
(Mark 11:12–14; Mark 11:20–25)
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and in the morning turning back to the city, He hungered,
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and having seen a certain fig tree on the way, He came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and He says to it, “No more fruit may be from you—throughout the age”; and instantly the fig tree withered.
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And the disciples having seen, wondered, saying, “How did the fig tree instantly wither?”
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And Jesus answering said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig tree will you do, but even if to this mountain you may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it will come to pass;
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and all—as much as you may ask in the prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
(Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8)
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And He having come into the temple, there came to Him when teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people, saying, “By what authority do You do these things? And who gave You this authority?”
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And Jesus answering said to them, “I will ask you—I also—one word, which if you may tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things;
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the immersion of John, from where was it? From Heaven, or from men?” And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, “If we should say, From Heaven, He will say to us, Why, then, did you not believe him?
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And if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.”
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And answering Jesus they said, “We have not known.” He said to them—He also, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
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And what do you think? A man had two children, and having come to the first, he said, Child, go, today be working in my vineyard.
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And he answering said, I will not, but at last, having regretted, he went.
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And having come to the second, he said in the same manner, and he answering said, I [go], lord, and did not go;
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which of the two did the will of the father?” They say to Him, “The first.” Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes go before you into the Kingdom of God,
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for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, and the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and you, having seen, did not regret at last—to believe him.
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
(Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–18)
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Hear another allegory: There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it, and dug in it a winepress, and built a tower, and gave it out to farmers, and went abroad.
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And when the season of the fruits came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive the fruits of it,
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and the farmers having taken his servants, one they scourged, and one they killed, and one they stoned.
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Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in the same manner.
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And at last he sent to them his son, saying, They will respect my son;
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and the farmers having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance;
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and having taken him, they cast [him] out of the vineyard, and killed him;
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whenever therefore the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to these farmers?”
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They say to Him, “Evil men—he will grievously destroy them, and will give out the vineyard to other farmers who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.”
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Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Writings: A stone that the builders disallowed, it became head of a corner; from the LORD has this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes?
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Because of this I say to you that the Kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit;
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and he who is falling on this stone will be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.”
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And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard His allegories, knew that He speaks of them,
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and seeking to lay hold on Him, they feared the multitudes, seeing they were holding Him as a prophet.
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