Mar 11 | ESV | STEP | Now when they drew near to Jerusalem , to Bethphage and Bethany , at the Mount of Olives , Jesus sent two of his disciples

1 ^aNow when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^bBethphage and Bethany, at ^cthe Mount of Olives, Jesus ^{▼▼Greek he} sent ^etwo 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, ^fon 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 ^gspread 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, ^h“Hosanna! ⁱBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is ^jthe coming ^kkingdom of ^lour father ^mDavid! ⁿHosanna ^oin the highest!”

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

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12 ^rOn the following day, when they came from Bethany, ^she was hungry. 13 ^tAnd 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 ^uit 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 ^vAnd 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 ^wthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^xpigeons. 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, ^y‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But ^zyou have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and ^aawere seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^aball the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 ^acAnd when evening came they ^{▼▼Some manuscripts he} went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

20 ^aeAs they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, ^af“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have ^agfaith in God. 23 ^ahTruly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ^ai‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not ^ajdoubt in his heart, but ^akbelieves that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, ^alwhatever you ask in prayer, ^ambelieve that you ^anhave received ^{▼▼Some manuscripts are receiving} it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever ^apyou stand praying, ^aqforgive, ^arif you have anything against anyone, so that ^asyour Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add verse 26: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses}

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 ^auAnd 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, ^av“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 ^awfrom heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^ax‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”— ^aythey were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^aza 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.”