₁As they approached Jerusalem, near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead ₂with these instructions: “Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ₃And if someone asks you why you are doing that, tell him that the Master needs it and will send it back at once.”

₄So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it, ₅some of the bystanders asked them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”

₆They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders let them go. ₇They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on. ₈Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches in the fields and spread them on the road. ₉The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! ₁₀God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise God!”

₁₁Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked round at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

₁₂The next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ₁₃So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the King of Israel!”

₁₄Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, just as the scripture says,

₁₆His disciples did not understand this at the time; but when Jesus had been raised to glory, they remembered that the scripture said this about him and that they had done this for him.