[1] And when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Beth'phage and Bethany, at the
Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, [2] and said to them, "Go
into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will
find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it. [3]
If any one 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 the door out in the open street; and they untied it.
[5] And those who stood 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 garments on it;
and he sat upon it. [8] And many spread their garments on the road, and
others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. [9] And
those who went before and those who followed cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord! [10] Blessed is the kingdom of our
father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!" [11] And he entered
Jerusalem, and went into the temple; and when he had looked round at
everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
[12] On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. [13]
And 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
it 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. [15] And 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
the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons; [16] and he
would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. [17] And he
taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, `My house shall be called a
house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of
robbers." [18] And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a
way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was
astonished at his teaching. [19] And when evening came they went out of the
city. [20] As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered
away to its roots. [21] And Peter remembered and said to him, "Master,
look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered." [22] And Jesus answered
them, "Have faith in God. [23] Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this
mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his
heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done
for him. [24] Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe
that you have received it, and it will be yours. [25] And whenever you
stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your
Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." [26] And
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, [27] and they
said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you
this authority to do them?" [28] Jesus said to them, "I will ask you a
question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these
things. [29] Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me."
[30] And they argued with one another, "If we say, `From heaven,' he will
say, `Why then did you not believe him?' [31] But shall we say, `From
men'?"--they were afraid of the people, for all held that John was a real
prophet. [32] 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."
