Luke 3
Christian Standard Bible
The Messiah’s Herald
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,(A) Herod was tetrarch[a] of Galilee,(B) his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas(C) and Caiaphas,(D) God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.(E) 3 He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan,(F) proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,(G) 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
5 Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be made low;[b]
the crooked will become straight,
the rough ways smooth,
6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.[c](H)
7 He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers!(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(J) 8 Therefore produce fruit(K) consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’(L) for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(M)
10 “What then should we do?” (N) the crowds were asking him.
11 He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”(O)
12 Tax collectors(P) also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” (Q)
13 He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”
14 Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?”
He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
15 Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.(R) 16 John answered them all,(S) “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[d] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing shovel(T) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn,(U) but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”(V) 18 Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people. 19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch(W) because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,(X) 20 Herod added this to everything else—he locked up John in prison.(Y)
The Baptism of Jesus
21 When all the people were baptized,(Z) Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying,(AA) heaven opened,(AB) 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”(AC)
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
23 As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the
son of Joseph,(AD) son of Heli,
24 son of Matthat, son of Levi,
son of Melchi, son of Jannai,
son of Joseph, 25 son of Mattathias,
son of Amos, son of Nahum,
son of Esli, son of Naggai,
26 son of Maath, son of Mattathias,
son of Semein, son of Josech,
son of Joda, 27 son of Joanan,
son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel,(AE)
son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,
28 son of Melchi, son of Addi,
son of Cosam, son of Elmadam,
son of Er, 29 son of Joshua,
son of Eliezer, son of Jorim,
son of Matthat, son of Levi,
30 son of Simeon, son of Judah,
son of Joseph, son of Jonam,
son of Eliakim, 31 son of Melea,
son of Menna, son of Mattatha,
son of Nathan, son of David,
32 son of Jesse,(AF) son of Obed,(AG)
son of Boaz, son of Salmon,[e]
son of Nahshon, 33 son of Amminadab,
son of Ram,[f] son of Hezron,
son of Perez,(AH) son of Judah,
34 son of Jacob, son of Isaac,
son of Abraham,(AI) son of Terah,
son of Nahor, 35 son of Serug,
son of Reu, son of Peleg,(AJ)
son of Eber, son of Shelah,
36 son of Cainan,[g] son of Arphaxad,
son of Shem, son of Noah,(AK)
son of Lamech, 37 son of Methuselah,
son of Enoch,(AL) son of Jared,
son of Mahalalel, son of Cainan,
38 son of Enos, son of Seth,
son of Adam, son of God.
Luke 3
International Standard Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus(A)
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 John[a] went throughout the entire Jordan region, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord![b] Make his paths straight!
5 Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled.
The crooked ways will be made straight,
and the rough roads will be made smooth.
6 Everyone[c] will see the salvation
that God has provided.’”[d]
7 John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! Don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! 9 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”
10 The crowds kept asking him, “What, then, should we do?”
11 He answered them, “The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn’t have any, and the person who has food must do the same.”
12 Even some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them, “Stop collecting more money than the amount you are told to collect.”
14 Even some soldiers were asking him, “And what should we do?”
He told them, “Never extort money from anyone by threats or blackmail, and be satisfied with your pay.”
15 Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah.[e] 16 John replied to all of them, “I’m baptizing you with[f] water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, and I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean up his threshing floor. He’ll gather the grain into his barn, but he’ll burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”
18 With many other exhortations John[h] continued to proclaim the good news to the people. 19 Now Herod the tetrarch had been rebuked by John[i] because he had married[j] his brother’s wife Herodias and because of all of the other evil things Herod had done. 20 Added to all this, Herod[k] locked John up in prison.
Jesus is Baptized(B)
21 When all the people had been baptized, Jesus, too, was baptized. While he was praying, heaven opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him, appearing in the form of a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, saying,[l] “You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you!”[m]
The Ancestry of Jesus(C)
23 Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry.[n] He was (as legally calculated)[o] the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,[p] the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon,[q] the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan,[r] the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Footnotes
- Luke 3:3 Lit. He
- Luke 3:4 Cf. Isa 40:3; MT source citation reads Lord
- Luke 3:6 Lit. All flesh
- Luke 3:6 Isa 40:3-5
- Luke 3:15 Or Christ
- Luke 3:16 Or in
- Luke 3:16 Or in
- Luke 3:18 Lit. he
- Luke 3:19 Lit. him
- Luke 3:19 Lit. because of
- Luke 3:20 Lit. he
- Luke 3:22 The Gk. lacks saying
- Luke 3:22 Other mss. read You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.
- Luke 3:23 The Gk. lacks his ministry
- Luke 3:23 I.e. in conformity to genealogy reckonings then in effect; or (so it was thought)
- Luke 3:27 Or Shealtiel; cf. 1Chr 3:17; Ezra 3:2,8; 5:2; Neh 12:1; Matt 1:12
- Luke 3:32 Other mss. read Sala
- Luke 3:36 The inclusion of Cainan here follows the LXX; cf. Gen 10:4,24; 11:12-13; 1Chron 1:7
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