The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples
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Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 with these instructions: "Go over to the village across from you. You'll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me.
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saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3 If anyone asks what you're doing, say, 'The Master needs them!' He will send them with you."
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If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them, ’ and he will send them at once. ”
4 This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:
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This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell Zion's daughter, "Look, your king's on his way, poised and ready, mounted On a donkey, on a colt, foal of a pack animal."
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“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. ’”
6 The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do.
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The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
7 They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted.
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They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
8 Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat.
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Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, "Hosanna to David's son!" "Blessed is he who comes in God's name!" "Hosanna in highest heaven!"
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And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! ”
10 As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, "What's going on here? Who is this?"
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And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this? ”
11 The parade crowd answered, "This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee."
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And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee. ”
12 Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants.
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And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
13 He quoted this text: My house was designated a house of prayer; You have made it a hangout for thieves.
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He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, ’ but you make it a den of robbers. ”
14 Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.
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And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
15 When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, "Hosanna to David's Son!" they were up in arms and took him to task.
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But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ” they were indignant,
16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Jesus said, "Yes, I hear them. And haven't you read in God's Word, 'From the mouths of children and babies I'll furnish a place of praise'?"
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and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying? ” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’? ”
17 Fed up, Jesus turned on his heel and left the city for Bethany, where he spent the night.
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And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
18 Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry.
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In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
19 Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, "No more figs from this tree - ever!" The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick.
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And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again! ”And the fig tree withered at once.
20 The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, "Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?"
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When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once? ”
21 But Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Yes - and if you embrace this kingdom life and don't doubt God, you'll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you'll tell, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump.
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And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea, ’ it will happen.
22 Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God."
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And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. ”
23 Then he was back in the Temple, teaching. The high priests and leaders of the people came up and demanded, "Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to teach here?"
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And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? ”
24 Jesus responded, "First let me ask you a question. You answer my question and I'll answer yours.
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Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 About the baptism of John - who authorized it: heaven or humans?"
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The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man? ”And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven, ’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him? ’
26 if we say 'humans,' we're up against it with the people because they all hold John up as a prophet."
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But if we say, ‘From man, ’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet. ”
27 They decided to concede that round to Jesus. "We don't know," they answered. Jesus said, "Then neither will I answer your question.
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So they answered Jesus, “We do not know. ” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
28 "Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.'
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“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today. ’
29 "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went.
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And he answered, ‘I will not, ’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.
30 "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went.
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And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir, ’ but did not go.
31 "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first."
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Which of the two did the will of his father? ”They said, “The first. ” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn't care enough to change and believe him.
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For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
33 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip.
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“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
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When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away.
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And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment.
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Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.'
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Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son. ’
38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.'
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But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. ’
39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
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And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?"
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When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? ”
41 "He'll kill them - a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time."
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They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. ”
42 Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles: The stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone. This is God's work; we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
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Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.
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Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
44 Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
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And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. ”
45 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them.
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When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.
46 They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.
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And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025