Luke 3:1-22

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^(M)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(N)‘Prepare the way of the Lord,^[a]
    make his paths straight.
⁵^(O)Every valley shall be filled,
    ^(P)and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
^(Q)and the crooked shall become straight,
    and the rough places shall become level ways,
⁶^(R)and all flesh shall see ^(S)the salvation of God.’”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹²^(AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ¹⁶^(AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So ^(AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹But ^(AU)Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰added this to them all, that ^(AV)he locked up John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(AW)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(AX)the heavens were opened, ²²and ^(AY)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(AZ)a voice came from heaven, ^(BA)“You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”^[d]

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Footnotes

Luke 3:4 Or crying, Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord
Luke 3:11 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin
Luke 3:22 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved
Luke 3:22 Some manuscripts beloved Son; today I have begotten you

Psalm 105

English Standard Version

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

105 ^(A)Oh give thanks to the Lord; ^(B)call upon his name;
    ^(C)make known his deeds among the peoples!
²Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    ^(D)tell of all his wondrous works!
³Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
⁴Seek the Lord and his ^(E)strength;
    ^(F)seek his presence continually!
⁵Remember the ^(G)wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles, and ^(H)the judgments he uttered,
⁶O offspring of ^(I)Abraham, his servant,
    children of Jacob, his ^(J)chosen ones!

⁷He is the Lord our God;
    his ^(K)judgments are in all the earth.
⁸He ^(L)remembers his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for ^(M)a thousand generations,
⁹^(N)the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his ^(O)sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰which he confirmed to ^(P)Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹saying, ^(Q)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as ^(R)your portion for an inheritance.”

¹²When they were ^(S)few in number,
    of little account, and ^(T)sojourners in it,
¹³wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴he ^(U)allowed no one to oppress them;
    he ^(V)rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵saying, ^(W)“Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶When he ^(X)summoned a famine on the land
    and ^(Y)broke all supply^[a] of bread,
¹⁷he had ^(Z)sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who was ^(AA)sold as a slave.
¹⁸His ^(AB)feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹until ^(AC)what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord ^(AD)tested him.
²⁰^(AE)The king sent and ^(AF)released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free;
²¹he ^(AG)made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,
²²to bind^[b] his princes at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then ^(AH)Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob ^(AI)sojourned in ^(AJ)the land of Ham.
²⁴And the Lord ^(AK)made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
²⁵He ^(AL)turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to ^(AM)deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶He ^(AN)sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, ^(AO)whom he had chosen.
²⁷^(AP)They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in ^(AQ)the land of Ham.
²⁸He ^(AR)sent darkness, and made the land dark;
    they ^(AS)did not rebel^[c] against his words.
²⁹He turned their waters into blood
    and ^(AT)caused their fish to die.
³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in ^(AU)the chambers of their kings.
³¹He spoke, and there came ^(AV)swarms of flies,
    ^(AW)and gnats throughout their country.
³²He gave them hail for rain,
    and fiery ^(AX)lightning bolts through their land.
³³He struck down their vines and fig trees,
    and ^(AY)shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴He spoke, and the ^(AZ)locusts came,
    young locusts without number,
³⁵which devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶He ^(BA)struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    ^(BB)the firstfruits of all their strength.

³⁷Then he brought out Israel with ^(BC)silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
³⁸^(BD)Egypt was glad when they departed,
for ^(BE)dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹He ^(BF)spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰^(BG)They asked, and he ^(BH)brought quail,
    and gave them ^(BI)bread from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹He opened the rock, and ^(BJ)water gushed out;
    it flowed through ^(BK)the desert like a river.
⁴²For he ^(BL)remembered his holy promise,
    and ^(BM)Abraham, his servant.

⁴³So he brought his people out with joy,
    his ^(BN)chosen ones with ^(BO)singing.
⁴⁴And he ^(BP)gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
⁴⁵that they might ^(BQ)keep his statutes
    and ^(BR)observe his laws.
^(BS)Praise the Lord!