Mark 10:13–12:12

Blessing the Children

¹³Some ^zpeople were bringing little children ^ato Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked ^bthem. ¹⁴When Jesus saw it, He was indignant ^cand said to them, “Let the little children come to Me. ^dDon’t stop ^ethem, for the kingdom of God ^fbelongs to such as these. ^15•I assure you: ^gWhoever does not welcome ^hithe kingdom of God like a little child ^jwill never enter it.” ¹⁶After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on ^kthem and blessed ^lthem.

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁷As ^mHe was setting out on a journey, ⁿa man ran up, knelt down ^obefore Him, and asked Him, “Good ^pTeacher, ^qwhat must I do to inherit ^reternal life?” ^s

¹⁸“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good but One—God. ^t19You know the commandments:

Do not murder; ^u

do not commit adultery; ^v

do not steal; ^w

do not bear false witness; ^x

do not defraud; ^y

honor ^zyour father and mother.” ^ab

²⁰He said to Him, “Teacher, ^cI have kept all these from my youth.”

²¹Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him ^dand said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, ^eand you will have treasure ^fin heaven. ^gThen come, ^hfollow Me.” ⁱ²²But he was stunned ^jat this demand, and he went away grieving, ^kbecause he had many possessions. ^l

Possessions and the Kingdom

²³Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth ^mto enter the kingdom of God!” ⁿ²⁴But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, ^ohow hard it is ^pto enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich ^qperson to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶So they were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?” ^r

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, ^sbut not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

²⁸Peter ^tbegan to tell Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.”

²⁹“I assure you,” ^uJesus said, “there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, ^vchildren, or fields because of Me and the gospel, ^w30who will not receive 100 times ^xmore, now at this time ^y—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions ^z—and eternal life ^ain the age to come. ^b31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” ^c

The Third Prediction of His Death

³²They ^dwere on the road, going up to Jerusalem, ^eand Jesus was walking ahead of them. They were astonished, but those who followed Him were afraid. ^fTaking the Twelve aside again, He began to tell them the things that would happen to Him. ^g

³³“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The ^•Son of Man ^hwill be handed over to the ^•chief priests and the ^•scribes, ⁱand they will condemn Him to death. Then they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, ^j34and they will mock Him, spit on Him, flog ^kHim, and kill Him, and He will rise ^lafter three days.” ^m

Suffering and Service

³⁵Then ⁿJames ^oand John, ^pthe sons of Zebedee, ^qapproached Him and said, “Teacher, ^rwe want You to do something for us if we ask You.”

³⁶“What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked them.

³⁷They answered Him, “Allow us to sit at Your right and at Your left in Your glory.” ^s

³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. ^tAre you able to drink the cup ^uI drink or to be baptized with the baptism ^vI am baptized with?” ^w

³⁹“We are able,” they told Him.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. ^x40But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to give; instead, it is for those it has been prepared for.” ⁴¹When the other 10 disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. ^y

⁴²Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles dominate ^zthem, and their men of high positions exercise power over them. ⁴³But it must not be like that among you. ^aOn the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ^b44and whoever wants to be first among you must be a ^•slave ^cto all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man ^ddid not come to be served, but to serve, ^eand to give His life ^f—a ransom ^gfor many.” ^hi

A Blind Man Healed

⁴⁶They ^jcame to Jericho. ^kAnd as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind ^lbeggar, ^mwas sitting by the road. ⁿ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, ^ohe began to cry out, “Son of David, ^pJesus, have mercy ^qon me!” ^r48Many people told him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, ^sSon of David!”

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! ^tGet up; He’s calling for you.” ⁵⁰He threw off his coat, ^ujumped up, and came to Jesus.

⁵¹Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want ^vMe to do for you?”

“Rabbouni,” ^wxthe blind man told Him, “I want to see!”

⁵²“Go your way,” Jesus told him. “Your faith has healed you.” ^yImmediately he could see and began to follow Him on the road.

The Triumphal Entry

11When ^zthey approached Jerusalem, ^aat Bethphage and Bethany ^bnear the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples ²and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’ ”

⁴So they went and found a young donkey outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, ⁵and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the donkey?” ⁶They answered them just as Jesus had said, so they let them go. ⁷Then they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it.

⁸Many people spread their robes on the road, ^cand others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. ^d9Then those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting:

Hosanna!

He who comes in the name ^e

of the Lord is the blessed One! ^fg

¹⁰The coming kingdom ^h

of our father David ⁱis blessed!

Hosanna ^jin the highest heaven!

¹¹And He went into Jerusalem ^kand into the temple complex. ^lAfter looking around at everything, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany ^mwith the Twelve.

The Barren Fig Tree Is Cursed

¹²The ⁿnext day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry. ¹³After seeing in the distance a fig ^otree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit ^pfrom you again!” ^qAnd His disciples ^rheard it.

Cleansing the Temple Complex

¹⁵They came to Jerusalem, ^sand He went into the temple complex ^tand began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers’ ^utables and the chairs of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex.

¹⁷Then He began to teach them: “Is it not written, ^vMy house ^wwill be called a house of prayer ^xfor all nations? ^yBut you have made it a den of thieves!” ^za18Then the chief priests and the scribes ^bheard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid ^cof Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching.

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

The Barren Fig Tree Is Withered

²⁰Early ^din the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹Then Peter ^eremembered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ^flook! The fig tree that You cursed ^gis withered.”

²²Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. ^h23•I assure you: ⁱIf anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt ^jin his heart, but believes ^kthat what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ^l24Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray ^mand ask for ⁿ—believe that you have received ^opthem, and you will have them. ²⁵And whenever you stand ^qpraying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive ^rhim, so that your Father ^sin heaven ^twill also forgive ^uyou your wrongdoing. [²⁶But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven ^vforgive your wrongdoing.]” ^wx

Messiah’s Authority Challenged

²⁷They ^ycame again to Jerusalem. ^zAs He was walking in the temple complex, ^athe chief priests, the scribes, ^band the elders ^ccame ²⁸and asked Him, “By what authority ^dare You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; ^ethen answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰Was John’s baptism ^ffrom heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹They began to argue among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe ^ghim?’ ³²But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was a genuine prophet. ^h33So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12Then ⁱHe began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, ^jput a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ²At harvest time he sent ^ka ^•slave ^lto the farmers to collect some of the fruit ^mof the vineyard from the farmers. ³But they took him, beat ⁿhim, and sent him away empty-handed. ^o4Again he sent another slave to them, and they ^phit him on the head and treated him shamefully. ^q5Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some.

⁶“He still had one to send, a beloved ^rson. Finally ^she sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷“But those tenant farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the…