| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. | 1Now when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, |
| 2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. | 2telling them, "Go to the village ahead of you. Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. |
| 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” | 3If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." |
| 4This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, | 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: |
| 5“Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’” | 5"Tell the people of Zion, 'Look, your king is coming to you, unassuming and seated on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" |
| 6The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. | 6So the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. |
| 7They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. | 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. |
| 8Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. | 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. |
| 9Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Praise God in highest heaven!” | 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" |
| 10The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked. | 10As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, "Who is this?" |
| 11And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Jesus Clears the Temple | 11And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee." |
| 12Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. | 12Then Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. |
| 13He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” | 13And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are turning it into a den of robbers!" |
| 14The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. | 14The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them. |
| 15The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” But the leaders were indignant. | 15But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant |
| 16They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’ ” | 16and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself'?" |
| 17Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight. Jesus Curses the Fig Tree | 17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. |
| 18In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, | 18Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. |
| 19and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. | 19After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, "Never again will there be fruit from you!" And the fig tree withered at once. |
| 20The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” | 20When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" |
| 21Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. | 21Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. |
| 22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” The Authority of Jesus Challenged | 22And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive." |
| 23When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” | 23Now after Jesus entered the temple courts, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" |
| 24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. | 24Jesus answered them, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. |
| 25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John. | 25Where did John's baptism come from? From heaven or from people?" They discussed this among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?' |
| 26But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.” | 26But if we say, 'From people,' we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet." |
| 27So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things. Parable of the Two Sons | 27So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. |
| 28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ | 28"What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' |
| 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. | 29The boy answered, 'I will not.' But later he had a change of heart and went. |
| 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. | 30The father went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, 'I will, sir,' but did not go. |
| 31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. | 31Which of the two did his father's will?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! |
| 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins. Parable of the Evil Farmers | 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him. |
| 33 “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. | 33"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. |
| 34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. | 34When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. |
| 35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. | 35But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. |
| 36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same. | 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. |
| 37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ | 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' |
| 38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ | 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and get his inheritance!' |
| 39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him. | 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. |
| 40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?” | 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" |
| 41The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.” | 41They said to him, "He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest." |
| 42Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD ’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ | 42Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? |
| 43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. | 43For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. |
| 44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. ” | 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed." |
| 45When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. | 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. |
| 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet. | 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds regarded him as a prophet. |
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