Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he

received his sight, and followed Jesus in the

1 AND when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethpage, and Bethany,* at the mount of Olives, he sent forth two of his disciples, 2 and said unto them, Go your way into the village over against you and as soon as ye are entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never a man sat; loose him, and 3 bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and immediately he will send 4 him hither. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without, in a place where two ways met; and they loose 5 him. And some of them who stood there said

unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? 6 And they said unto them, even as Jesus had 7 commanded and they let them go. And

they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. 8 And many spread their garments in the way :

and others cut down branches from the trees, 9 and strewed in the way. And they who went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna Blessed is he that cometh in the

* These were small villages.

10 name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, which cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest 11 strains. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and the evening was come, he went out unto Bethany, with the twelve.

12 And on the morrow when they were come 13 from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing a fig-tree afar off, having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find any thing thereon, (and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves ;) for the time of gathering figs was 14 not yet.* And Jesus spake and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

15

And they came to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, 16 and the seats of them that sold doves; and would not suffer any man to carry any vessel 17 through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer ? 18 but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared

* The fig was eatable when the leaves appeared; though hardly so matured as to be harvested. "The time of figs," means the season for gathering them. He certainly then might have expected to find some.

him because all the people were astonished at 19 his doctrine. And when evening was come, he went out of the city.

20 And in the morning, as they passed by,

they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Master, behold the fig-tree which thou 22 cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answer

ing, saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass he 24 shall have whatsoever he saith: Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, 25 and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also who is in heaven may 26 forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your father who is in heaven, forgive your trespasses.

27

And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the 28 elders, and say unto him, By what authority

doest thou these things? and who gave thee 29 authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these 30 things. The baptism of John, was it from 31 heaven, or of men? answer me.

And they

reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, from heaven; he will say, Why then 32 did ye not believe him? But if we shall say,

Of men; they feared the people for they 33 all considered John to be a prophet. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering, saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.*

CHAP. XII.

1 AND he began to speak unto them by parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a wine-fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, 2 and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen 3 of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant : and him they stoned, and wounded in the head, 5, and sent away shamefully abused. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They

*Jesus was not obliged to tell the Jews that he was sent of God, his miracles were sufficient to convince themafterwards, however, he did acknowledge himself to be the Messiah; but they were the more enraged, and accused him of blasphemy.

7 will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said amongst themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall 8 be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and 9 cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the 10 vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected, is become the head of the corner. 11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvel12 lous in our eyes. And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people; for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them; and they left him, and went their way.

13

And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees, and of the Herodians, to catch him 14 in his words.* And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth; Is it lawful to give 15 tribute to Cæsar, or not? shall we give, or shall we not give? But he knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it: and he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And 17 they said unto him, Cæsar's. And Jesus

* The object of all these enemies of Christ was probably to find some occasion for accusing him as an enemy to the Roman emperor, and a seditious person, that they might procure his death.