Open English Translation MARK Chapter 11

11 As they got close to Yerusalem and were passing Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, Yeshua sent two of his apprentices ahead, telling them, 2 “Go on to the next village and as you enter it, you’ll see a young donkey that hasn’t ever been ridden yet. Untie it and bring it back here. 3 If anyone asks what you’re doing, tell them that the master needs it and he’ll return it later.”

4 So they went ahead and found a donkey tied up on the path just outside the door of a house, and so they went to untie it. 5 But some of the people standing around there said, “Hoy! What do you think you’re doing untying that donkey?”

6 So they responded just as Yeshua had told them, and the people allowed them to proceed. 7 They brought the young donkey to Yeshua, placing their coats over it before Yeshua mounted it. 8 As Yeshua rode it into Yerusalem, many people laid their coats on the road, while others lay down leafy branches cut from trees in nearby fields. 9 [ref]Some went ahead and others came along behind, shouting, “This is the saviour who comes with the authority and blessing from God—10 the promised ancestor of King David who is blessed as he ushers in his kingdom—the blessed saviour from heaven.”

11 And so Yeshua arrived in Yerusalem and went into the temple and looked all around, but because it was now evening, he went back out to Bethania village with his twelve apprentices.

12 The next day after they’d left Bethania, Yeshua was hungry. 13 From a distance he noticed a fig tree that was in leaf so he went over to see if there was any fruit on it, but when he reached it there was only leaves because it wasn’t the right season for figs. 14 So he spoke to the tree, “No one in this age will ever eat fruit from you again.” (His followers heard him say that.)

15 Then they came back into Yerusalem and on into the temple where Yeshua started driving out the sellers and the buyers that were trading in there. Then he tipped over the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of the ones selling doves, 16 and stopped others from carrying goods through the temple. 17 [ref]He said, “Isn’t it written in the Scriptures,

‘My house will be known as a house of prayer for all the nations’?

But all of you have turned it into a sanctuary for swindlers.”

18 When the chief priests and the religious teachers heard this, they started looking for a way that they could destroy him, because they were afraid of him and the way that the crowd marvelled at this teaching.

19 Every evening, Yeshua and his apprentices would go out of the city to stay overnight.

20 As they entered the city again in the morning, Yeshua’s apprentices noticed that the fig tree was totally dead. 21 Peter remembered what he had said to the tree, and commented, “Teacher, that fig tree that you cursed has withered up.”

22 Yeshua responded, “Use your faith in God. 23 [ref]I can assure you that if anyone tells a mountain to go into the sea and doesn’t doubt in their mind but believes that what they’re saying will happen, then it will. 24 So I tell you all that anything you ask God for in your prayers, if you believe that you have received it, then you will. 25 [ref]Whenever you are standing praying, if you have something against someone, be sure to forgive them so that your father in heaven can also forgive your shortcomings.”

26 ◘ 27 They continued on into Yerusalem and on to the temple where they were met by the chief priests and the religious teachers and the elders. 28 They asked Yeshua, “Do you have any authority to do what you did? If so, who gave it to you?”

29 Yeshua answered, “Ok, I’ll also ask you something and when you answer me I’ll tell you about my authority to do that: 30 When Yohan preached and immersed people, did the authority for that come from heaven or from people here?”

31 They discussed this among themselves, reasoning, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him. 32 But we can’t say that it was just from people.” (They said that because they were scared of the crowds, knowing that they believed that Yohan was a prophet.) 33 So they answered, “We don’t know.”

And Yeshua also responded, “Well then, I won’t tell you about my authority to do those things either.”