Even so, the Son of man did not come to be served [by others] but to be the servant [of others], and to sacrifice His life as a ransom price to purchase many people [i.e., back from Satan]."

And as they went out from Jericho a great crowd followed him.

saying to them, Go into the village across from you. And immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.

And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading [them] on the road.

And the crowds that went in front of Him and followed Him shouted: "Welcome the Son of David! Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord; Welcome Him from on high!"

And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee!"

and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:

You have prepared praise
from the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.

And seeing a single fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And he said to it, "May there be no more fruit from you {forever}, and the fig tree withered at once.

From where was the baptism of John--from heaven or from men?" And they began to discuss [this] among themselves, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become {the cornerstone}. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

For this reason I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.

"The kingdom from heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

So go to the main highways that lead out of the city, and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

And hearing it, they were full of wonder, and went away from him.

On the same day there came to him the Sadducees, who say that there is no coming back from the dead: and they put a question to him, saying,

When they come back from the dead, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? because they all had her.

Jesus then answering, said unto them, Ye are in an error, from not knowing the Scriptures, and the power of God.

For when they come back from the dead there are no husbands and wives, but they are as the angels in heaven.

As for the resurrection from the dead, haven't you read what was spoken to you by God when he said,

and one from among them, a lawyer, proposed a question, putting him to the test:

And no one was able to give him an answer, and so great was their fear of him, that from that day no one put any more questions to him.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.

is absent from the oldest manuscripts]}]}

You blind guides, who take out a fly from your drink, but make no trouble over a camel.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.

So you bear witness against yourselves that you are descended from the murderers of the prophets.

You snakes, offspring of snakes, how will you be kept from the punishment of hell?

For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town;

So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar.

For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.

And Jesus went forth and went away from the temple, and his disciples came to him to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others, and said, "Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?"

And Jesus answered them, "Pay attention so that no one leads you astray [from the truth].

For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.

At that time people will turn you over [to the authorities] for persecution and will [even] kill you. And people from all countries will hate you for being loyal to me.

And numbers of people will be turned from the right way, and will give one another up and have hate for one another.

And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people away [from the truth].

But the person who holds out [i.e., remains faithful to God] until the end [i.e., of this time of severe persecution] will be saved [from destruction].

Let the man on the housetop not go down to take things from his house.

And pray that it will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath day when you will have to flee [from the city]. [Note: Jewish Sabbath day restrictions on travel (only three-fifths of a mile) and city gate closures would make leaving the city nearly impossible].

Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be.

And if those days had not been as short as they were no one would have been saved [i.e., from the devastating destruction]. But for the sake of the elect [i.e., God's people], those days will be short.

Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.

But straight away, after the trouble of those days, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light and the stars will come down from heaven and the powers of heaven will be moved:

And he will send out his angels with a great sound of a horn, and they will get his saints together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Now take an example from the fig-tree: when her branch has become soft and puts out its leaves, you are certain that the summer is near;

Two women will be grinding grain at a millstone [Note: This was a hand-operated device where two persons sat across from each other and rotated a circular stone over kernels of grain]; one will be taken, while the other one will be left.

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be similar to ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the [bride and] groom. [Note: The picture here is that of a newly married couple returning from a festive reception to the groom's home where they continued celebrating and were welcomed by a late evening wedding party]

And the foolish said to the wise, Give us from your olive oil, because our lamps are going out.

"For it is just like a man who was going on a long journey from his homeland, who called to him his slaves and turned his property over to them.

And, to one, indeed, gave he five talents, and, to another, two, and, to another, one, - to each according to his particular ability, and went from home.

Now after a long time the master of these servants returned [from his trip] and proceeded to go over his accounts with each of them.

And the one who had received the one talent came up also [and] said, 'Master, [because I] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter [seed].

But his master answered [and] said to him, 'Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter [seed].

Therefore take the talent from him and give [it] to the one who has the ten talents.

For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have more: but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.

And he shall set the sheep from his right, and the kids from his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, [you] who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!

Then will he say to those on the left, Go from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which is ready for the Evil One and his angels:

"But he will reply, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you withheld such services from one of the humblest of these, you withheld them from me.'

"You know that the Passover Festival will be celebrated in two more days [Note: This was the annual Jewish festival commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership], and the Son of man will be turned over to be crucified."

And from that time on, he began seeking a favorable opportunity in order that he could betray him.

and, as they were eating, he said - Verily, I say unto you, One from among you, will deliver me up.

And they being greatly grieved, began each of them to say to him, Far from it am I, O Lord:

And Judas delivering him up, having answered, said, Far from it, am I, Rabbi? He said to him, Thou hast said.

And [after] taking the cup and giving thanks he gave [it] to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,

"You must all drink from it, for this is my blood which ratifies the agreement, and is to be poured out for many people, for the forgiveness of their sins.

But I tell you, from now [on] I will never drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father."

then said Jesus to them, I shall be the occasion of your revolting all from me this night: for it is written, "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered."

But after I am raised from the dead, I will go back to Galilee to meet you."

But Peter made answer and said to him, Though all may be turned away from you, I will never be turned away.

And going forward a little he fell down on his face, praying and saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you [will]."

Again going away a second time he prayed saying, My Father, if this cannot pass from me unless I drink it, thy will be done.

And he went away from them again, and a third time said the same prayer.

And [while] he was still speaking, behold, Judas--one of the twelve--arrived, and with him a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

But all this has taken place so that the writings of the prophets might come true. Then all his disciples went from him in flight.

But Peter was following him from a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And he went inside [and] was sitting with the officers to see the outcome.

Jesus said to him, "You have said [it]. But I tell you, from now [on] you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, "This man was with Jesus from Nazareth."

And, after a little, the by-standers, coming forward, said unto Peter: Truly, thou also, art, from among them, for, thy very speech, maketh thee, manifest.

So, they conferred together [and decided] to buy "The Potter's Field" with the money [Note: This was probably an abandoned field where clay had been obtained for making pottery], for use in burying people who were not from the local area.

Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, which says, And they took the thirty silver pieces, the price of him who was valued, whom they valued from the sons of Israel,

And they gave them for the potter's field, as I had word from the Lord.

For he knew that they had delivered him up from envy.

And as he sat on the tribunal his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered much to-day on his account, from a dream.

And Pilate having seen that it profiteth nothing, but rather a tumult is made, having taken water, he did wash the hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent from the blood of this righteous one; ye -- ye shall see;'

and when they had mocked him, they took off from him the cloak, and put on him his own garments, and led him away to crucify him.

As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to carry his cross.

On reaching a place named Golgotha (a place named from its likeness to a skull),

Then were crucified with him two robbers; one from the right hand, and the other from the left.

and saying, "The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild [it] in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"

"He saved others; he is not able to save himself! He is the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him!

let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God: let him deliver him now if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God.

Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.

And about the ninth hour Jesus gave a loud cry, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why are you turned away from me?

And, straightway, one from among them, running, and taking a sponge, and filling it with vinegar and putting it on a reed, was giving him to drink;

But the rest said: "Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to save him." [However another man took a spear, and pierced his side; and water and blood flowed from it.]