1As they approached Jerusalem at Bethphage near the Mount of Olives, Jmmanuel sent forth two of his disciples and said to them,
2"Go into the village that lies ahead, and forthwith you will find a female donkey tied to a post and a foal with her; untie her and bring her to me, because she is a present to me and is only temporarily being kept there at the stable.
3"And if anyone questions you, say, 'Jmmanuel of Nazareth needs her.” and right away he will let you have her.
4The disciples went there and did as Jmmanuel had told them.
5They brought the female donkey and the foal, and they laid their clothes on the old animal, and he mounted it.
6When the people heard that Jmmanuel, the king of wisdom, was coming, they spread their clothes on the path. Others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the path.
7And the people who walked ahead of him and those who followed him shouted and said, "Hail to the descendant of David. Praise be to him who comes to proclaim anew the teachings of truth.
8And when they entered Jerusalem, the whole city became excited and asked, "Who is it that's coming?"
9The people replied, "It is Jmmanuel, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, who brings anew the teachings of truth.
Purging Of The Temple
10Jmmanuel went into the temple in Jerusalem and became furious when he saw that traders, vendors, dove merchants and moneychangers had established themselves there.
11Jmmanuel was very upset and said to them, "It is written: 'The temple is to be a place of teaching and a place of contemplation.' But you make it into a den of thieves."
12In his anger he overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of the dove merchants, and he drove them all out with a donkey driver's whip.
13And the blind and lame came to him in the temple and he healed them all.
14But when the chief priests and scribes saw the great deeds he was performing, and the people as they shouted in the temple, saying, "Hail to the descendant of David!" they became indignant.
15When they asked him, "Do you hear what these people are saying?" Jmmanuel said to them, "Are you so afraid of the truth that it angers you?"
16And he left them there and departed from the city for Bethany, where he stayed overnight.
Back In Jerusalem
17And when Jmmanuel returned again to the temple and taught, the chief priests, scribes, and the elders of the people came to him and asked, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you the authority?"
18But Jmmanuel answered, saying to them, "l, too, want to ask you a question, and if you answer it, I will tell you by whose authority I am doing everything.
19"Whence came the baptism of john? From Creation or from men?"
20They pondered the question and spoke among themselves. "If we say it was through Creation, then he will reply, ‘Why don’t you trust in it, and why aren’t you following its laws?’
21"But if we say it was through men, then we must fear the people because they consider John a prophet:'
22And so they answered Jmmanuel, saying, "We don't know."
23Thereupon he replied to them, "You brood of snakes and vipers; neither will I tell you by whose authority I act.
Vineyard Parable
24"But what do you think? A man had two sons and went to the first one and said, 'My son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
25"He answered, saying, 'Yes father, I will go.' Yet he did not go.
26"So he went to the other son and said, 'My son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
27"But he answered and said, 'l don't want to do it and therefore I will not go.' However, he soon felt remorse and went.
28"Now l ask you, which of the two did the will of the father?" And they said, "The latter of course."
29But Jmmanuel spoke to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the publicans and prostitutes will recognize the wisdom of knowledge before you do.
30"John and the prophets came to you and taught you the right way, and you did not trust them; but the publicans and prostitutes did trust them. And although you recognized it, you nevertheless did not do penance and change your mind, so that you would trust them from that time on.
31"You know the truth, and yet you deny it in order to profit in gold, silver and goods and enrich yourselves at the expense of the poor, misguided people. You mislead and exploit them in the name of the faith.
32"But listen to another parable about a vineyard, and perhaps you will understand, if you have not lost your minds.
33"There was a lord of a large property who planted a vineyard, built a fence around it and dug a cellar therein; he built a tower, leased the vineyard to vine-dressers and left the country.
34"When the time for the grape harvest arrived, and with it the payment of the lease, he sent his servants to the vine-dressers so that they would collect the lease payment due him.
35"The vine-dressers seized his servants, beat one, tortured the other and stoned to death the third one.
36"Again the lord sent out other servants, more this time than the first; however the vine-dressers treated them the same way as they did the servants before.
37"Finally he sent the son of his administrator to them and said, 'They will be afraid of the administrator's son.'
38"But when the vine-dressers saw the son of the administrator they spoke among themselves, 'This is the heir, come let's kill him and take over his inheritance.'
39"They seized him, pushed him out of the vineyard and killed him, so they thought. While presuming him dead, they put him in a tomb where he remained in a state of near death for three days and three nights, and then he fled. Thereupon he returned to the lord of the vineyard and reported to him.
40"Now when the lord of the vineyard heard what had happened to the son of the administrator, what do you think he did?"
41They replied to him, "He probably had the villains punished and banished and turned his vineyard over to other vine-dressers who paid his lease at the proper time and, surely, he turned over the inheritance to the administrator's son in advance."
42Jmmanuel spoke to them, "You have recognized the meaning, and you have also read it in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders threw away became the cornerstone.'
43"Therefore I tell you, I am like the son of the administrator of the vineyard, and you are like the vine-dressers that leased the vineyard.
44"My teachings truly are not foreign to you and you are well acquainted with them, for they have already been given, handed down, and made known to you by the prophets.
45"But if you disregard, falsify and interpret them to your advantage, you are also calling me a liar; thereby you also call god a liar, upon whose resolve I was begotten by one of his kind and stand before you as a prophet.
46"Therefore I say to you, peace and joy shall be taken from you and your people for all eternity, and all shall be given to a people who bring forth their fruits.
47"If you disregard and trample on all the commandments of god, who is the ruler over this and the two other human lineages in the North and the East, you shall be disregarded and trampled upon for all time.
48"The burden of the Israelite people will be like a heavy stone of the seven Great Ages. Whosoever falls upon this stone will be smashed to pieces, and whosoever it falls upon will be crushed:'
49When the chief priests and Pharisees heard what he had said, they understood he cursed them and the Israelite people for all future time.
50And they conspired on how they could seize him, but they were afraid of the people, who believed him to be a prophet.