Mark 11:1-10; Mark 14:1-11

1 As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead

2 with these instructions: "Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

3 And if someone asks you why you are doing that, say that the Master needs it and will send it back at once."

4 So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it,

5 some of the bystanders asked them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"

6 They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the crowd let them go.

7 They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on.

8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the field and spread them on the road.

9 The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, "Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord!

10 God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise be to God!"

1 It was now two days before the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death.

2 "We must not do it during the festival," they said, "or the people might riot."

3 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. While Jesus was eating, a woman came in with an alabaster jar full of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus' head.

4 Some of the people there became angry and said to one another, "What was the use of wasting the perfume?

5 It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor!" And they criticized her harshly.

6 But Jesus said, "Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me.

7 You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me.

8 She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body to prepare it ahead of time for burial.

9 Now, I assure you that wherever the gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them.

11 They were pleased to hear what he had to say, and promised to give him money. So Judas started looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.