New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples
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And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Beth-phage and Bethany, at the Mountain of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
2 and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.
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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.
3 If anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?' just say this, "The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.' "
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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.
4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,
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And they went away and saw a young ass by the door outside in the open street; and they were getting him loose.
5 some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"
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And some of those who were there said to them, What are you doing, taking the ass?
6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.
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And they said to them the words which Jesus had said; and they let them go.
7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.
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And they took the young ass to Jesus, and put their clothing on him, and he got on his back.
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.
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And a great number put down their clothing in the way; and others put down branches which they had taken from the fields.
9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
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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:
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
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A blessing on the coming kingdom of our father David: Glory in the highest.
11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
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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.
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
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And on the day after, when they had come out from Bethany, he was in need of food.
13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
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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.
14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.
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And he said to it, Let no man take fruit from you for ever. And his disciples took note of his words.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves;
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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;
16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.
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And he would not let any man take a vessel through the Temple.
17 He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers."
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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.
18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
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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.
19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
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And every evening he went out of the town.
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
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And when they were going by in the morning, they saw the fig-tree dead from the roots.
21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."
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And Peter, having a memory of it, said to him, Master, see, the tree which was cursed by you is dead.
22 Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.
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And Jesus, answering, said to them, Have God's faith.
23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.
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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.
24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
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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.
25 "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."
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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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27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him
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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:
28 and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?"
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And they said to him, By what authority do you do these things? or who gave you authority to do these things?
29 Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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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.
30 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me."
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The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? give me an answer.
31 They argued with one another, "If we say, "From heaven,' he will say, "Why then did you not believe him?'
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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?
32 But shall we say, "Of human origin'?"—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.
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But if we say, From men--they were in fear of the people, because all took John to be truly a prophet.
33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.