1And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 2and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3“And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at the door outside in the street; and they untied it. 5And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it. 8And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out,
            “Hosanna!
            BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;

     10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David;
            Hosanna in the highest!”

     11And He entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking all around, He departed for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

     12And on the next day, when they had departed from Bethany, He became hungry. 13And seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14And He answered and said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

Jesus Drives Moneychangers from the Temple

     15And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17And He began to teach and say 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 ROBBERS’ DEN.” 18And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching.

     19And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

     20And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21And being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22And Jesus answered saying to 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 is going to happen, it shall be granted him. 24“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you. 25“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. 26[“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

     27And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and scribes, and elders came to Him, 28and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30“Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32“But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the multitude, for all considered John to have been a prophet indeed. 33And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”