⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

¹¹ Then an angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.^{(B) 12} When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.^{(C) 13} But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid,^(D) Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.^{(E) 14} He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,^(F)

²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,^(A) Mary; you have found favor with God.^{(B) 31} You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.^{(C) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.^(D) The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,^{(E) 33} and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom^(F) will never end.”^(G)

Mary’s Song^(A)

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit^[a];^(A) and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.^(A)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days John the Baptist^(B) came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^(C) has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

⁴ John’s^(E) clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.^(F) His food was locusts^(G) and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized^(H) by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!^(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(J) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.^{(K) 9} And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^(M)

¹¹ “I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance.^(N) But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit^(O) and fire.^{(P) 12} His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”^(Q)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)(B)

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate^(C) was governor of Judea, Herod^(D) tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,^(E) the word of God came to John^(F) son of Zechariah^(G) in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.^{(H) 4} As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!^(J) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(K) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(M)

¹⁰ “What should we do then?”^(N) the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”^(O)

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized.^(P) “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,”^(Q) he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely^(R)—be content with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John^(S) might possibly be the Messiah.^{(T) 16} John answered them all, “I baptize you with^[b] water.^(U) But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit and fire.^{(V) 17} His winnowing fork^(W) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”^{(X) 18} And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod^(Y) the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done,