³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,^(A) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”^[a](B)

3 “I will send my messenger,^(A) who will prepare the way before me.^(B) Then suddenly the Lord^(C) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(D) whom you desire,^(E) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

² as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

⁴ And so John the Baptist^(C) appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance^(D) for the forgiveness of sins.^{(E) 5} The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist,^(F) and he ate locusts^(G) and wild honey. ⁷ And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.^{(H) 8} I baptize you with^[c] water, but he will baptize you with^[d] the Holy Spirit.”^(I)

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus^(J)(K)

⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth^(L) in Galilee and was baptized by John^(M) in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.^{(N) 11} And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,^(O) whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”^(P)

¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord,^(A) in the spirit and power of Elijah,^(B) to turn the hearts of the parents to their children^(C) and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”^(D)