John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹ Now this was John’s^(A) testimony when the Jewish leaders^[a](B) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”^(C)

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^(D)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^(E)

He answered, “No.”

²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,^(F) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”^[b](G)

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I baptize with^[c] water,”^(H) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me,^(I) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”^(J)

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,^(K) where John was baptizing.

3 “I will send my messenger,^(A) who will prepare the way before me.^(B) Then suddenly the Lord^(C) you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,^(D) whom you desire,^(E) will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(A) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^(B)

¹⁵ The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.^(A) You must listen to him.

John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,^(A) who takes away the sin of the world!^{(B) 30} This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’^{(C) 31} I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.^{(D) 33} And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water^(E) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’^{(F) 34} I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”^[a](G)

³² “‘If someone brings a lamb^(A) as their sin offering, they are to bring a female without defect.^{(B) 33} They are to lay their hand on its head and slaughter it^(C) for a sin offering^(D) at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.^{(E) 34} Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.^{(F) 35} They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar^(G) on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.

⁵ when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess^(A) in what way they have sinned. ⁶ As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat^(B) from the flock as a sin offering^[a];^(C) and the priest shall make atonement^(D) for them for their sin.