Mark 10:13–12:12

Little Children Brought to Jesus

¹³And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when^* Jesus saw it,^* he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the young children come to me. Do not forbid them, for to such belongs^h the kingdom of God. ¹⁵Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.” ¹⁶And after^* taking them^* into his arms, he blessed them, placing hisⁱ hands on them.

A Rich Young Man

¹⁷And as^* he was setting out on his way, one individual ran up and knelt down before him and^* asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ”^{j 20}And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” ²¹And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all that you have, and give the proceeds^* to the poor—and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” ²²But he looked gloomy at the statement and^* went away sorrowful, because he had^k many possessions.

²³And Jesus looked around and^* said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for^l those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were astounded at his words. But Jesus answered and^* said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were very astounded, saying to one another, “And who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus looked at them and^* said, “With human beings it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields on account of me and on account of the gospel ³⁰who will not^m receive a hundred times as much now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time

³²Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going on ahead of them. And they were astounded, but those who were following him^* were afraid. And taking aside the twelve again, he began to tell them the things that were about to happen to him: ³³“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him,^* and after three days he will rise.”

A Request by James and John

³⁵And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and^* said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What do you want that I doⁿ for you?” ³⁷So they said to him, “Grant to us that we may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” ³⁹And they said to him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” ⁴¹And when they^* heard this,^* the ten began to be indignant about James and John. ⁴²And Jesus called them to himself and^* said to them, “You know that those who are considered to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their people in high positions exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it is not like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be most prominent among you must be the slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

A Blind Man Healed at Jericho

⁴⁶And they came to Jericho. And as^* he was setting out from Jericho along with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road. ⁴⁷And when he^* heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸And many people warned him that he should be quiet. But he was crying out even more loudly,^o “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹And Jesus stopped and^* said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man and^* said to him, “Have courage! Get up! He is calling you.” ⁵⁰And he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and^* came to Jesus. ⁵¹And Jesus answered him and^* said, “What do you want me to do^p for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabboni,^q that I may regain my sight.” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.” And immediately he regained his sight and began to follow^r him on the road.

The Triumphal Entry

11And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village before you, and right away as you^* enter into it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.^{* 3}And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say^a ‘The Lord has need of it, and will send it here again at once.’ ” ⁴And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵And some of those who were standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶So they told them, just as Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it.^{b 7}And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. ⁸And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread^* leafy branches they^* had cut from the fields. ⁹And those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!^c

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”^*

¹¹And he went into Jerusalem to the temple, and after^* looking around at everything, because^* the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

A Barren Fig Tree Cursed

¹²And on the next day as^* they were departing from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³And when he^* saw from a distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he^* came up to it he found nothing except leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴And he responded and^* said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you any more forever!”^d And his disciples heard it.^*

The Cleansing of the Temple

¹⁵And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered into the temple courts^* and^* began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple courts,^* and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶And he did not permit anyone to carry objects^e through the temple courts.^{* 17}And he began to teach^f and was saying to them, “Is it not written,

‘My house will be called a house of prayer

for all the nations,’^g

but you have made it a cave of robbers!” ¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it,^* and began considering^h how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came they went out of the city.

The Barren Fig Tree Withered

²⁰And as they^* passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹And Peter remembered and^* said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!” ²²And Jesus answered and^* said to them, “Have faith in God! ²³Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it,^* and it will be done for you. ²⁵And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him,^* so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”ⁱ

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

²⁷And they came again to Jerusalem. And as^* he was walking in the temple courts,^* the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him ²⁸and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you do these things?” ²⁹So Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me!” ³¹And they began to discuss^j this^* with one another, saying, “What should we say?^k If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John as truly a prophet.^{l 33}And they replied to Jesus saying, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard

12And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a trough for the winepress, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. ²And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard…