Mark 11:1–20

The Triumphal Entry

11ⁱNow when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^jBethphage and Bethany, at ^kthe Mount of Olives, Jesus¹ sent ^ltwo of his disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, ^mon which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” ⁴And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. ⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸And many ⁿspread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ^o“Hosanna! ^pBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰Blessed is ^qthe coming ^rkingdom of ^sour father ^rDavid! ^oHosanna ^tin the highest!”

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

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^12wOn the following day, when they came from Bethany, ^xhe was hungry. ^13yAnd 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 ^zit was not the season for figs. ¹⁴And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^15aAnd 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 ^bthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^cpigeons. ¹⁶And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷And he was teaching them and saying to them, “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.” ¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and ^fwere seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^gall the crowd was astonished at his teaching. ^19hAnd when evening came they² went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ⁱAs they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.