Mark 11

The Triumphal Entry

¹When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples²³and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.⁴⁵If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’”⁶

⁷So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it,⁸⁹and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”¹⁰¹¹They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.¹²

¹³They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it.¹⁴¹⁵Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.¹⁶¹⁷Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!¹⁸

¹⁹Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!²⁰

²¹He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.²²

The Barren Fig Tree Is Cursed

²³The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry.²⁴²⁵Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs.²⁶²⁷He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it.²⁸

Cleansing the Temple

²⁹They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,³⁰³¹and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.³²³³He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”³⁴

³⁵The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.³⁶

³⁷Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.³⁸

The Barren Fig Tree Is Withered

³⁹Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.⁴⁰⁴¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”⁴²

⁴³Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God.⁴⁴⁴⁵Truly I tell you, if anyone 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.⁴⁶⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received it and it will be yours.⁴⁸⁴⁹And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”⁵⁰

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

⁵¹They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came⁵²⁵³and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”⁵⁴

⁵⁵Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.⁵⁶⁵⁷Was John’s baptism from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”⁵⁸

⁵⁹They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’⁶⁰⁶¹But if we say, ‘Of human origin’” — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.⁶²⁶³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”⁶⁴