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19 This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20 He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.”

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

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

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

23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’Isaiah 40:3 as Isaiah the prophet said.”

24 The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

26 John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” 28 These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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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.

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
  2. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
  3. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)