The Righteous Reign of the Branch

¹⁰ In that day ^(O)the root of ^(P)Jesse, who shall stand as ^(Q)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant^[a] of the church at ^(A)Cenchreae, ² that you ^(B)may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³ Greet ^(C)Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also ^(D)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was ^(E)the first convert^[b] to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia,^[c] my kinsmen and my ^(F)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,^[d] and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those ^(G)who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers^[e] who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ^16 (H)Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(I)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(J)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(K)their own appetites,^[f] and ^(L)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For ^(M)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you ^(N)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ^20 (O)The God of peace ^(P)will soon crush Satan under your feet. ^(Q)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

^21 (R)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, ^(S)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

^23 (T)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.^[g]

Doxology

^25 (U)Now to him who is able to strengthen you ^(V)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(W)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(X)that was kept secret for ^(Y)long ages ²⁶ but ^(Z)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, ^(AA)to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to ^(AB)the only wise God ^(AC)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 ^(A)In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(C)the wilderness of Judea, ^2 (D)“Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^{[a] 3} For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

⁴ Now John wore ^(H)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(I)locusts and ^(J)wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(K)confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of ^(L)the Pharisees and ^(M)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(N)“You brood of ^(O)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(P)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit ^(Q)in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^(R)‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^(S)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(T)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

^11 (U)“I baptize you with water ^(V)for repentance, but ^(W)he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^(X)with the Holy Spirit and ^(Y)fire. ¹² His ^(Z)winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^(AA)gather his wheat into the barn, ^(AB)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AC)unquenchable fire.”