ⁱNow when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^jBethphage and Bethany, at ^ktheMount of Olives, Jesus¹ sent ^ltwo of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into thevillage in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, ^mon whichno 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 wentaway and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some ofthose standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they toldthem what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus andthrew their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many ⁿspread their cloaks on the road, andothers spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who wentbefore and those who followed were shouting, ^o“Hosanna! ^pBlessed is he who comes inthe 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 lookedaround 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 ^yAndseeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. Whenhe came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for ^zit was not the season for figs. 14 And he saidto 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 outthose who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^bthemoney-changers and the seats of those who sold ^cpigeons. 16 And he would not allowanyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying tothem, “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 itand ^fwere seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^gall the crowd wasastonished 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 haswithered.” 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 notⁿdoubt in his heart, but ^obelieves that what he says will come to pass, it will be done forhim. 24 Therefore I tell you, ^pwhatever you ask in prayer, ^obelieve that you ^qhavereceived³ it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever ^ryou stand praying, ^sforgive, ^tif youhave anything against anyone, so that ^uyour Father also who is in heaven may forgive youyour trespasses.”⁴