The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Beth-phage and Bethany, at the Mountain of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
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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 And said to them, Go into the little town opposite: and when you come to it, you will see a young ass with a cord round his neck, on which no man has ever been seated; let him loose, and come back with him.
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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 anyone says to you, Why are you doing this? say, The Lord has need of him and will send him back straight away.
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And if someone asks you why you are doing that, say that the Master needs it and will send it back at once."
4 And they went away and saw a young ass by the door outside in the open street; and they were getting him loose.
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So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it,
5 And some of those who were there said to them, What are you doing, taking the ass?
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some of the bystanders asked them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"
6 And they said to them the words which Jesus had said; and they let them go.
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They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the crowd let them go.
7 And they took the young ass to Jesus, and put their clothing on him, and he got on his back.
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They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on.
8 And a great number put down their clothing in the way; and others put down branches which they had taken from the fields.
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Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the field and spread them on the road.
9 And those who went in front, and those who came after, were crying, Glory: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord:
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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 A blessing on the coming kingdom of our father David: Glory in the highest.
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God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise be to God!"
11 And he went into Jerusalem into the Temple; and after looking round about on all things, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
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Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
12 And on the day after, when they had come out from Bethany, he was in need of food.
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The next day, as they were coming back from Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
13 And seeing a fig-tree in the distance with leaves, he went to see if by chance it had anything on it: and when he came to it, he saw nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for the fruit.
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He saw in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, so he went to see if he could find any figs on it. But when he came to it, he found only leaves, because it was not the right time for figs.
14 And he said to it, Let no man take fruit from you for ever. And his disciples took note of his words.
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Jesus said to the fig tree, "No one shall ever eat figs from you again!" And his disciples heard him.
15 And they came to Jerusalem; and he went into the Temple, and sent out those who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who were offering doves for money;
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When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons,
16 And he would not let any man take a vessel through the Temple.
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and he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple courtyards.
17 And he gave them teaching, and said to them, Is it not in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer for all the nations? but you have made it a hole of thieves.
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He then taught the people: "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, "My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!"
18 And it came to the ears of the chief priests and scribes, and they took thought how they might put him to death; being in fear of him, because all the people were full of wonder at his teaching.
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The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, so they began looking for some way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19 And every evening he went out of the town.
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When evening came, Jesus and his disciples left the city.
20 And when they were going by in the morning, they saw the fig-tree dead from the roots.
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Early next morning, as they walked along the road, they saw the fig tree. It was dead all the way down to its roots.
21 And Peter, having a memory of it, said to him, Master, see, the tree which was cursed by you is dead.
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Peter remembered what had happened and said to Jesus, "Look, Teacher, the fig tree you cursed has died!"
22 And Jesus, answering, said to them, Have God's faith.
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Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.
23 Truly I say to you, Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and be put into the sea; and has no doubt in his heart, but has faith that what he says will come about, he will have his desire.
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I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in 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 make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it.
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For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.
25 And whenever you make a prayer, let there be forgiveness in your hearts, if you have anything against anyone; so that you may have forgiveness for your sins from your Father who is in heaven.
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And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done."
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27 And they came again to Jerusalem: and while he was walking in the Temple, there came to him the chief priests and the scribes and those in authority:
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They arrived once again in Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders came to him
28 And they said to him, By what authority do you do these things? or who gave you authority to do these things?
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and asked him, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?"
29 And Jesus said to them, I will put to you one question; give me an answer, and I will say by what authority I do these things.
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Jesus answered them, "I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things.
30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? give me an answer.
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Tell me, where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?"
31 And they gave thought to it among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did you not have faith in him?
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They started to argue among themselves: "What shall we say? If we answer, "From God,' he will say, "Why, then, did you not believe John?'
32 But if we say, From men--they were in fear of the people, because all took John to be truly a prophet.
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But if we say, "From human beings . . .' " (They were afraid of the people, because everyone was convinced that John had been a prophet.)
33 And they said in answer to Jesus, We have no idea. And Jesus said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.
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So their answer to Jesus was, "We don't know." Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.