³³ Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

Children and Parents

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord,^[a] for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: ³ “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴ And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves and Masters

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; ⁶ not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. ⁷ Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, ⁸ knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.

⁹ And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality.

¹⁷ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸ The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples ¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” ²⁰ When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’” ²¹ Jesus^[a] had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers^[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. ²³ And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus^[c] began to speak to the crowds about John:^[d] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? Someone^[e] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,^[f] because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. ³⁰ But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)