John 1:6
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6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
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Malachi 3:1
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The Coming Messenger
3 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.(A)
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Isaiah 40:3-5
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3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.(A)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.(B)
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
John 3:28
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28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,[a] but I have been sent ahead of him.’(A)
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- 3.28 Or the Christ
John 1:33
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33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’(A)
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Luke 1:76
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76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,(A)
Acts 13:24
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24 before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(A)
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Mark 1:1-8
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The Proclamation of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the good news[a] of Jesus Christ.[b](A)
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,[c]
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,[d]
who will prepare your way,(B)
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight,’ ”(C)
4 so John the baptizer appeared[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.(D) 5 And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.(E) 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.(F) 8 I have baptized you with[f] water, but he will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit.”(G)
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Matthew 11:10
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10 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’(A)
Matthew 3:1-11
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The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a](A) 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”(B)
4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.(C) 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.(D)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his[b] baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(E) 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,(F) 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.(G) 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(H)
11 “I baptize you with[c] water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[d] the Holy Spirit and fire.(I)
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Malachi 4:5-6
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5 See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.(A) 6 He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.[a]
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- 4.6 Or a ban of utter destruction
Luke 3:2-20
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2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.(A) 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.(B)
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”(C)
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(D) 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.(E) 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(F)
10 And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?”(G) 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”(H) 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”(I) 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”(J) 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”(K)
15 As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,[a](L) 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire.(M) 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(N)
18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people. 19 But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done,(O) 20 added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
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Luke 1:61-63
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61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed.
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Luke 1:15-17
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15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.(A) 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.(B) 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(C)
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Luke 1:13
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13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.(A)
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Matthew 21:25
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25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’
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