Study Desk

^(C1)And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Allow the children to come to Me; do not ^(F1)forbid them, ^(C1)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

"Truly I say to you, ^(C1)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

And He ^(C1)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

^(C1)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(C2)knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may ^(C3)inherit eternal life?"

But Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

"You know the commandments: '^(C1)DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"

And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept ^(C1)all these things from my youth."

Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(C1)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

But he ^(F1)was deeply dismayed by ^(F2)these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

And Jesus, looking around, ^(*)said to His disciples, "^(C1)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"

And the disciples ^(C1)were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and ^(*)said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

"^(C1)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, "^(F1)Then who can be saved?"

Looking at them, Jesus ^(*)said, "^(C1)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

^(C1)Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and have followed You."

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, ^(C1)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,

^(F1)but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^(F2)the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(C1)the age to come, eternal life.

"But ^(C1)many who are first will be last, and the last, first."

^(C1)Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(C2)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him,

saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(C1)the Son of Man will be ^(F1)handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^(F2)hand Him over to the Gentiles.

"And they will mock Him and ^(C1)spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead."

^(F1)(C1)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, ^(*)came up to ^(F2)Jesus, saying to Him, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You."

And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"

They said to Him, "^(F1)Grant that we ^(C1)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory."

But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(C1)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(C2)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

They said to Him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink ^(C1)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

"But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; ^(C1)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

^(C1)Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with ^(F1)James and John.

Calling them to Himself, Jesus ^(*)said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their ^(F1)people in high position exercise authority over them.

"But it is not this way among you; ^(C1)rather, whoever wants to become ^(F1)prominent among you shall be your servant;

and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all.

"For even the Son of Man ^(C1)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^(F1)life as a ransom for many."

^(C1)Then they ^(*)came to Jericho. And later, ^(C2)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road.

And when he heard that it was Jesus the ^(C1)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, ^(C2)Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "^(C1)Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they ^(*)called the man who was blind, saying to him, "^(C1)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you."

And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

And replying to him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the man who was blind said to Him, "^(F1)(C1)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!"

And Jesus said to him, "Go; ^(C1)your faith has ^(F1)made you well." And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

^(C1)And as they ^(*)approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and ^(C2)Bethany, near ^(C3)the Mount of Olives, He ^(*)sent two of His disciples,

and ^(*)said to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

"And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it'; and immediately he ^(F1)will send it back here."

They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they ^(*)untied it.

And some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"

And they told them just as Jesus had said, and they gave them permission.

^(C1)They ^(*)brought the colt to Jesus and ^(*)put their cloaks on it; and He sat on it.

And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.

And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: "^(F1)Hosanna! ^(C1)BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; ^(F1)Hosanna ^(C1)in the highest!"

^(C1)And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, ^(C2)He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

^(C1)On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.

Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

And He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

^(C1)Then they ^(*)came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(F1)doves;

and He would not allow anyone to carry ^(F1)merchandise through the temple grounds.

And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written: '^(C1)MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? ^(C2)But you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS."

And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they ^(C1)began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all ^(C2)the crowd was astonished at His teaching.

And ^(C1)whenever evening came, ^(F1)they would leave the city.

^(C1)As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

And being reminded, Peter ^(*)said to Him, "^(C1)Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered."

And Jesus answered and ^(*)said to them, "^(C1)Have faith in God.

"^(C1)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

"Therefore, I say to you, ^(C1)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

"And whenever you ^(C1)stand praying, ^(C2)forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your ^(F1)offenses.

["^(F1)(C1)But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your ^(F2)offenses."]

And they ^(*)came again to Jerusalem. ^(C1)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders ^(*)came to Him,

and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?"

But Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

"Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me."

And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

"But should we say, 'From men'?"—they were afraid of the ^(F1)people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet.

Answering Jesus, they ^(*)said, "We do not know." And Jesus ^(*)said to them, "Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things."

^(C1)And He began to speak to them in parables: "^(C2)A man ^(C3)planted a vineyard and put a ^(F1)fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^(F2)vine-growers and went on a journey.

"And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

"And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

"And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

"And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

"He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

"But those vine-growers said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

"And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

"What will the ^(F1)owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others.

"Have you not even read this Scripture: '^(C1)A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE ^(F1)CHIEF CORNERSTONE;

^(C1)THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?"

^(C1)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^(F1)people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(C2)they left Him and went away.