John 1:19-28

Modern English Version

The Testimony of John the Baptist^(A)

¹⁹ Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ They asked him, “Who then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

²² They said to him then, “Who are you? Tell us so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say concerning yourself?”

²³ John said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’^[a] just as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why do you baptize then, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but One stands among you, whom you do not know. ²⁷ This is He who comes after me, who is preferred before me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

²⁸ These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.