Mark 11

Jesus Enters Jerusalem (11:1–11)

1 And when they are coming near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples. 2 And he says to them, “Go into the village ahead of you and immediately entering into it, you will find a colt having been tied up, upon which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The master has need of it, and he will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they left and found a colt having been tied at the door, out in the road, and they untied it. 5 And some of those who were standing there were saying to them, “What are you doing untying the colt?” 6 But they spoke to them as Jesus had commande,d and they allowed them [to go]. 7 And they lead the colt to Jesus. And they threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the way, but others cut leafy branches from the fields. 9 And those going in front and those going behind were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed [is] the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple. And having looked around at everything, the hour already being late, he went to Bethany with the Twelve.

The Fig Tree and the Temple (11:12–26)

12 And on the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And having seen in the distance a fig tree having leaves, he went [to see] if perhaps he would find any [figs] on it. And having come to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not fig season. 14 And answering, he said to it, “May no one ever again eat your fruit.” And his disciples heard.

15 And they come to Jerusalem. And having entered into the temple, he began to cast out those selling and those buying in the temple. And he toppled the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those selling the doves. 16 And he didn’t permit anyone to carry any goods through the temple. 17 And he was teaching and was saying to them, “Has it not been written ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a hideout for robbers.’” 18 And the chief priests and the scriptorians heard [it], and they sought how they could destroy him because they feared him because all of the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came, they went out of the city.

20 And passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree, withered from the roots. 21 And having remembered, Peter says to him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And answering, Jesus says to them, “Have trust in God. 23 Amen, I say to you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted and thrown into the sea,’ and you do not waver in your heart, but trust that what you say will happen, it will happen for you. 24 Therefore I say to you, all things you pray and ask for, trust that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive anything you have against anyone, so that your father who is in the heavens will forgive your sins.” [26]

Jesus Questioned about His Authority (11:27–12:12)

27 And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he is walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scriptorians and the elders come to him. 28 And they were saying to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or, who gave you this authority, that you should do these things?” 29 But Jesus was saying to them, “I will ask you one thing, and if you answer me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John: was it from heaven, or from humans? Answer me.” 31 And they were reasoning with each other, saying, “If we say from heaven, he will say, ‘Then why did you not trust him?’ 32 But if we should say from humans . . .”—they feared the crowd, for all held that John indeed was a prophet. 33 And answering Jesus, they say, “We do not know.” And Jesus says to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

12:1 And he began to say to them in parables, “A man planted a vineyard and placed around it a wall and dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower and rented it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. 2 And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the right time, so that he might receive the fruits of the vineyard from the tenant farmers. 3 But seizing him, they beat him and sent him away with nothing. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat on the head and treated shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and this one they killed. And many others, beating some and killing others. 6 Yet having one beloved son, he sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will have respect for my son.’ 7 But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And seizing him, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and will destroy the tenants and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this scripture:

          ‘The stone the builders rejected
          has become the cornerstone.
11     This was from the Lord,
          and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”

12 And they wanted to arrest him—but they feared the crowd—for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them. And having left him, they went away.