Mark 11

¹And as they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples ²and tells them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied up on which no human being has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it and will send it back here right away.'"

⁴They went off and found a colt tied at a door outside on the street, and they untie it. ⁵Some of those standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" ⁶They answered just as Jesus had said, and the people let them go. ⁷They bring the colt to Jesus and throw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. ⁸Many spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread leafy branches they had cut from the fields. ⁹Those going ahead and those following were crying out: "Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heavens!"

¹¹And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After looking around at everything, since the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

¹²On the next day, as they were leaving Bethany, he became hungry. ¹³Seeing a fig tree in the distance with leaves on it, he went to see if perhaps he might find something on it. But when he came to it he found nothing except leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He spoke and said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples were listening.

¹⁵They come to Jerusalem. And entering the temple, he began driving out those selling and those buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those selling doves. ¹⁶He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. ¹⁷And he was teaching and saying 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 bandits."

¹⁸The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began looking for a way to destroy him, for they feared him—because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

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

²⁰As they passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹And Peter, remembering, says to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered." ²²Jesus answered and says to them, "Have faith in God. ²³Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not waver in his heart but believes that what he says is happening, it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵And whenever you stand praying, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in the heavens may also forgive you your trespasses."

²⁷They come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him ²⁸and were saying to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?"

²⁹Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from human beings? Answer me."

³¹They were debating among themselves, saying, "What should we say? If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?' ³²But if we say, 'From human beings'—" They feared the crowd, for everyone held that John was truly a prophet. ³³So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus says to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."