Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The authority shown in the temple. The parable about the two sons.

1 And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, near the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and there you will immediately find a donkey tied, and the colt with it. Untie them and bring them to me.” 3 And if anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.” 4 But all this happened so that the word spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. 5 Tell the daughter of Zion: ‘now, your King is coming to you, gentle, riding on a donkey and on a colt’ (Zech. 9:9). 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them. 7 And they brought the donkey and the colt, threw their garments on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 Many from the crowd were spreading their garments on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 And the crowd that went before and those who followed were crying out and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!” 10 And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. They were asking, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowd was saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.” 12 And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who were selling and buying there, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And he said to them, “It is written: My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” 14 And in the temple the blind and the lame came to Him, and He healed them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the miracles that He did, and also saw the children who were crying out in the Temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” 16 They were indignant and said to Him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you not read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing infants You have brought praise to completion’ (Ps. 8:3)?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city and went to Bethany, and spent the night there. 18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he felt hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, he came up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to the fig tree, “May there never be fruit from you again,” and the fig tree immediately withered. 20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How is it that the fig tree dried up at once?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what happened to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Rise up and fall into the sea,’ it will happen.” 22 And everything you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive». 23 And when He came into the temple and was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus also answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one thing. If you answer me, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Where was John’s baptism from—from heaven, or from men?” And they were reasoning among themselves and saying, 26 “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, because everyone considers John to be a prophet”. 27 And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard’.” 29 He answered and said, “I do not want to,” but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And he went to the other and said the same. And he answered and said, “I will go, Lord,” but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the father’s will?” They said, “The first.” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. You saw this, yet even afterward you did not repent and believe him. 33 Listen to another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went to a foreign country. 34 And when the time of the harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his share of the harvest. 35 But the tenants seized his servants: one they beat, one they killed, and one they stoned. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the former ones, and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38 And when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take possession of his inheritance.” 39 And they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to a terrible destruction, and will give the vineyard to other tenants, who will give Him the fruit in its season.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Holy Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this became the cornerstone. This came from the Lord, and it is marvelous before our eyes’ (Ps. 118:22–23).” 43 Therefore I tell you: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will make it fruitful. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they understood that he was speaking about them. 46 And they wanted to seize Him, but they were afraid of the crowd, because they considered Him a prophet.