Mark 11

11 ¹Nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany by the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead,

²telling them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you'll find a tied colt no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here."

³If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here at once.'

⁴They went and found a colt tied at a doorway outside in the street, and untied it. ⁵Some of those standing there asked them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" ⁶They answered as Jesus had told them, and the people let them go. ⁷They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. ⁸Many spread their cloaks on the road; others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. ⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of our Father! ¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"

¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and the temple, looked around at everything, and—since it was already late—went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹²The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Seeing a leafy fig tree in the distance, he went to see if it had anything on it. Reaching it, he found nothing but leaves, since it wasn't fig season.

¹⁴Then he told it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." His disciples heard him say it.

Jesus Cleanses His Father's House

¹⁵They arrived in Jerusalem, and Jesus entered the temple and began driving out the sellers and buyers there. He overturned the money-changers' tables and the seats of those selling doves, ¹⁶and he would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

¹⁷And he taught them, saying, "Isn't it written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you've made it a den of robbers."

¹⁸The chief priests and scribes heard this and sought a way to destroy him, for they feared him, since the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹And when evening came, they went out of the city.

²⁰In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. ²¹Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered."

²²Jesus answered them, "Have faith in our Father. ²³Truly I tell you, whoever tells this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' without doubting in his heart but believing what he says will happen—it will be done for him. ²⁴So I tell you: whatever you pray and ask for, believe you've received it - it will be yours. ²⁵When you stand praying, forgive whatever you hold against anyone, so your Father in heaven may also forgive you your sins." ^a a v25 The earliest manuscripts do not have a verse 26 here; later copies add: "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

By Whose Authority?

²⁷They returned to Jerusalem. While Jesus walked in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders came to him, ²⁸and asked, "By what authority are you doing this? Or who gave you this authority to do it?"

²⁹Jesus said to them, "I'll ask you one question. Answer me, and I'll tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰John's baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Answer me."

³¹They discussed it among themselves: "If we say, 'From heaven,' he'll ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' ³²But if we say, 'From humans'"—they feared the crowd, since all considered John a true prophet.

³³They answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."