Mark 10:46-11:10

46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

1 As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”

4 The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. 5 As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.

8 Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,

“Praise God!

Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

10 Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David!

    Praise God in highest heaven!”

Isaiah 42:6-16

6 “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.

    I will take you by the hand and guard you,

and I will give you to my people, Israel,

    as a symbol of my covenant with them.

And you will be a light to guide the nations.

7     You will open the eyes of the blind.

You will free the captives from prison,

releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.

8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else,

    nor share my praise with carved idols.

9 Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again.

I will tell you the future before it happens.”

10 Sing a new song to the Lord!

    Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!

Sing, all you who sail the seas,

    all you who live in distant coastlands.

11 Join in the chorus, you desert towns;

    let the villages of Kedar rejoice!

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

    shout praises from the mountaintops!

12 Let the whole world glorify the Lord;

    let it sing his praise.

13 The Lord will march forth like a mighty hero;

    he will come out like a warrior, full of fury.

He will shout his battle cry

    and crush all his enemies.

14 He will say, “I have long been silent;

    yes, I have restrained myself.

But now, like a woman in labor,

    I will cry and groan and pant.

15 I will level the mountains and hills

    and blight all their greenery.

I will turn the rivers into dry land

    and will dry up all the pools.

16 I will lead blind Israel down a new path,

    guiding them along an unfamiliar way.

I will brighten the darkness before them

    and smooth out the road ahead of them.

Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.