²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[a]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(A)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(B)I baptize ^[b]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(C)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(D)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(E)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.