Matthew 3:3-12

New American Standard Bible

³ For this is the ^(A)one referred to ^[a]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[d](D)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(E)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(F)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(G)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(H)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(I)Pharisees and ^(J)Sadducees coming for ^[e]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[f](K)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(L)the wrath to come? ^8 (M)Therefore produce fruit ^(N)consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(O)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the ^(P)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(Q)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(R)I baptize you ^[g]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(S)He will baptize you ^[h]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(T)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(U)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(V)chaff with ^(W)unquenchable fire.”