And if anyone says to you, Why are you taking him? say, The Lord has need of him.

And as they were loosing the colt, the owners of him said to them: Why do you loose the colt?

And they said, The Lord has need of him.

And they took him to Jesus, and they put their clothing on the ass, and Jesus got on to him.

And while he went on his way they put their clothing down on the road in front of him.

As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen,

And some of the Pharisees among the people said to him, Master, make your disciples be quiet.

And every day he was teaching in the Temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people were attempting to put him to death;

But they were not able to do anything, because the people all kept near him, being greatly interested in his words.

And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

That the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people came to him and said, Make clear to us by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.

And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?

And at the right time he sent a servant to the workers to get part of the fruit from the vines; but the workmen gave him blows and sent him away with nothing.

And he sent another servant, and they gave blows to him in the same way, and put shame on him, and sent him away with nothing.

And he sent a third, and they gave him wounds and put him out.

And the lord of the garden said, What am I to do? I will send my dearly loved son; they may give respect to him.

But when the workmen saw him, they said to one another, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property: let us put him to death and the heritage will be ours.

And driving him out of the garden they put him to death. Now what will the lord do to these workmen?

He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That must never happen!"

Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

And the chief priests and the scribes made attempts to get their hands on him in that very hour; and they were in fear of the people, for they saw that he had made up this story against them.

And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.

They asked Him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and show no favors to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly.

"Show me the coin [used for paying the taxes]. [Note: This coin was equivalent to one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994]. Whose image and inscription are on this coin?" And they answered Him, "Caesar's."

"Then give to Caesar what belongs to him," he said, "to God give what is God's."

And they were not able to catch [him] in a statement in the sight of the people, and astonished at his answer, they became silent.

Then some of the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came up and asked Him,

and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

He is not the God of dead but of living people, for all live to Him."

Then some of the scribes answered Him, "Teacher, you have given a fine answer."

For they did not dare to ask Him any more questions.

So David calls Him Lord, then how can He be his Son?"

Then they asked Him, "Teacher, when will this be? And what is the sign that it is about to take place?"

while all the people would rise early in the mornings and come to listen to Him in the temple.

So the high priests and the scribes continued to seek how they might put Him to death, for they were afraid of the people.

But Satan entered into Judas, him called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve;

So he went off and discussed with the high priests and captains of the temple how he could betray Him to them.

They were delighted and made a bargain to pay him for it.

He in turn accepted their offer and began to seek a favorable opportunity to betray Him to them without exciting an uprising.

They asked Him, "Where do you wish us to prepare it?"

He answered them, "Just after you enter the city, a man with a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters

Now when the hour came, He took His place at the table, with the apostles about Him.

And he took a cup which was handed to him, gave thanks to God and said, "Take this and distribute it among yourselves,

But lo! the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me at the table.

True, the Son of Man is passing, by the way ordained for him, yet alas for that man by whom he is being betrayed!"

But ye shall not act thus: but the superior among you, let him be as the junior; and he that presideth, as he that serveth.

Which one, indeed, is the greater, the guest at the table or the servant who waits on him? Is it not the guest at the table? But I am among you as the servant who waits on you.

“Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has demanded permission to sift [all of] you like grain;

But Peter said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go even to prison and to death with you!"

Moreover, he said to them, "When I sent you out without purse or wallet or sandals, did you lack anything?" They answered him, "We lacked nothing.'

Then he said to them, But now let him that has a purse take it, and a provision sack likewise; and he that has not a sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one.

And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said to him, It is enough!

Then He went out of the city and up the Mount of Olives, as He was in the habit of doing; and His disciples, too, followed Him there.

And an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in great trouble of soul, the force of his prayer became stronger, and great drops, like blood, came from him, falling to the earth.

While He was still speaking, look! a crowd had come up, and Judas, one of the Twelve, was their guide; and he stepped up to Jesus to kiss Him.

Then Jesus said to him, "Judas, will you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

Those who were about Him saw what was about to take place, and said, "Lord, shall we use our swords now?"

And one of them smote a servant of him which was the highest priest of all, and smote off his right ear.

But Jesus said, "Permit me to go as far as this!" So He touched his ear and healed him.

Then Jesus said to the high priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come to take Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as though I were a robber?

Then they arrested Him and led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest. Peter was following at a distance.

A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire and fixed her eyes on him and said, "This fellow was with Him too."

But he denied it and said, "I do not know Him, woman."

A little later a man looked at him and said, "You are one of them too." But Peter said, "Man, I am not."

About an hour later another man emphatically asserted, "He certainly was with Him, for he is a Galilean!"

And Peter said, Man, I know Him not. And immediately, he yet speaking, the cock crew.

Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter was reminded of the word that the Lord had spoken to him, "Before a cock crows today, you will disown me three times."

how he had said to him, Before cock-crowing, thou wilt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Then the men who held Him in custody flogged Him and made sport of Him,

and after blindfolding Him they asked Him, "Play the prophet and tell us who it is that struck you!"

And they continued to say many other abusive things to Him.

As soon as day came, the elders of the people, the high priests, and the scribes assembled, and brought Him back before their council, and said,

and said to Him, Art thou the Messiah? tell us. And He said unto them, If I should tell you, ye would not believe:

So, they all asked [Him], "Then are you the Son of God?" And He answered them, "You [are right to] say that I am [the Christ]."

Then the whole body of them arose and brought Him to Pilate.

Here they began to make the following charges against Him: "We have found this fellow corrupting our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and claiming to be a king himself."

Then Pilate asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And He answered him, "Yes, I am."

And Pilate said to the high priests and the crowds, "I cannot find anything criminal about him."

So when he learned with certainty that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, He sent Him up to Herod, for he was in Jerusalem at that time.

Now Herod was very glad to see Jesus, for he had been wanting to see Him for a long time on account of what he had heard about Him; also he was hoping to see some spectacular performance done by Him.

So he continued to question Him for a long time, but Jesus gave him no answer at all.

Meanwhile, the high priests and the scribes stood by and continued vehemently to accuse Him.

Then Herod and his bodyguard treated Him with contempt and made sport of Him and put a gorgeous robe on Him and sent Him back to Pilate.

and said to them, "You brought this man to me on a charge of turning the people from allegiance, and here in your presence I have examined Him and do not find Him guilty of the charges you make against Him.

No; nor does Herod, for he has sent Him back to us. Indeed, He has done nothing to deserve the death penalty.

So I will flog Him and let Him go."

Now it was necessary for him to release to them one at the feast.

And all the people cried at once, saying, "Away with him, and deliver to us Barabbas:

But they shouted, "Crucify him, crucify him!"

But they continued to shout at him, "Crucify Him, crucify Him?

Then a third time he spoke to them, "Why, what wrong has He done? I have found nothing in Him deserving the death penalty. So I will flog Him and let Him go."

But they continued to press him with loud voices in their ceaseless demands that He be crucified, and their shouts began to prevail.

And he released him that was cast into prison for sedition and murder, whom they desired, and delivered up Jesus to their will.

Now as they led Him away, they seized a man named Simon, from Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and put the cross on his shoulders, for him to carry as he walked behind Jesus.

There was following Him also a vast throng of the people and of women who were beating their breasts and lamenting Him.

Two others, criminals, were also led with him to be put to death.

Two others, criminals, were also led out to be executed with Him.

When they reached the place called "The Skull," they crucified Him there; also the criminals, one at His right and one at His left.

And the people stood watching; but even the rulers sneered at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."