Matthew 21:1–22

The Triumphal Entry

21^qNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^rthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^ssent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴This took place ^tto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

^5u“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

^vhumble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt,¹ the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸Most of the crowd ^wspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^x“Hosanna to ^ythe Son of David! ^zBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^ain the highest!” ¹⁰And ^bwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹And the crowds said, “This is ^cthe prophet Jesus, ^dfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12eAnd Jesus entered the temple² and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^gpigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ^h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ⁱyou make it a den of robbers.”

^14jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^lhave you never read,

^m“ ‘Out of the mouth of ⁿinfants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And ^oleaving them, he ^pwent out of the city to ^qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^she became hungry. ^19tAnd seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered them, ^u“Truly, I say to you, ^vif you have faith and ^wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And ^vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^yif you have faith.”