The Triumphal Entry

1 ⁱNow when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^jBethphage and Bethany, at ^kthe Mount of Olives, Jesus¹ sent ^ltwo of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, ^mon which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many ⁿspread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ^o“Hosanna! ^pBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is ^qthe coming ^rkingdom of ^sour father ^rDavid! ^oHosanna ^tin the highest!”

11 ^uAnd he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, ^vhe went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12 ^wOn the following day, when they came from Bethany, ^xhe was hungry. 13 ^yAnd seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for ^zit was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

15 ^aAnd they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^bthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^cpigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ^d‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But ^eyou have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and ^fwere seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^gall the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 ^hAnd when evening came they² went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

20 ⁱAs they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, ^j“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have ^kfaith in God. 23 ^lTruly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ^m‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not ⁿdoubt in his heart, but ^obelieves that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, ^pwhatever you ask in prayer, ^obelieve that you ^qhave received³ it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever ^ryou stand praying, ^sforgive, ^tif you have anything against anyone, so that ^uyour Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”⁴

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 ^vAnd they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, ^w“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John ^xfrom heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^y‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^zthey were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^aa prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

1 Six days before ⁱthe Passover, ^jJesus therefore came to Bethany, ^kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. ^lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 ^mMary 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. 4 But 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?” 6 He 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. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it³ for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

9 When 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. 10 ^pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because ^qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

12 The next day ^rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So 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!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

16 ^xHis 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. 17 ^aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^bwas that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So 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

20 Now ^eamong those who went up to worship at the feast were some ^fGreeks. 21 So these came to ^gPhilip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told ^hAndrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, ⁱ“The hour has come ^jfor the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, 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. 25 ^lWhoever loves his life loses it, and ^mwhoever ⁿhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If 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

27 ^s“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. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then ^wa voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^x“An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, ^y“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 ^zNow is the judgment of this world; now will ^athe ruler of this world ^bbe cast out. 32 And I, ^cwhen I am lifted up from the earth, ^dwill draw ^eall people to myself.” 33 He said this ^fto show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So 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?” 35 So 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. 36 While 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. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 ^oso that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

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

41 Isaiah said these things because ^the saw his glory and ^uspoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, ^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; 43 ^yfor they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

44 And Jesus cried out and said, ^z“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^ain him who sent me. 45 And ^bwhoever ^csees me sees him who sent me. 46 ^dI have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If 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. 48 ^hThe 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. 49 For ^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. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”