1 And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and 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 'The Lord has need of it, and will send it here again at once.'"
4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those who were standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" 6 So they told them, just as Jesus had said, and they allowed them [to take it]. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it.
8 And many [people] spread their cloaks on the road, and others [spread] leafy branches [they] had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed [is] the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed [is] the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!"
11 And 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.
12 And on the next day [as] they were departing from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And [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. 14 And he responded [and] said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you any more {forever}!" And his disciples heard [it].
15 And 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. 16 And he did not permit anyone to carry objects through the temple [courts].
17 And he began to teach and was saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,' but you have made it a cave of robbers!" 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard [it], and began considering how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching.
19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
20 And [as they] passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 And Peter remembered [and] said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!"
22 And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Have faith in God! 23 Truly 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. 24 For 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. 25 And 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."
27 And 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 28 and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these [things], or who gave you this authority that you do these [things]?"
29 So 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]. 30 The baptism of John--was [it] from heaven or from men? Answer me!"
31 And they began to discuss [this] with one another, saying, "What should we say? If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But if we say, 'From men'"--they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John {as truly a prophet}. 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]."