Luke 3
Legacy Standard Bible
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when (A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and (B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of (C)Annas and (D)Caiaphas, (E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all (F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“(G)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the [a]Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 (H)Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be [b]brought low;
The crooked will be straight,
And the rough roads smooth.
6 (I)And all [c]flesh will (J)see the salvation of God.’”
7 So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and (L)do not begin to say [d]to yourselves, ‘(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, (N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “(O)Then what should we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two [e]tunics is to (P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 12 And (Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 And he said to them, “[f]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 And soldiers were also questioning him, saying, “What should we also do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or (R)extort anyone, and (S)be content with your wages.”
15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John, (T)as to whether he was the [g]Christ, 16 (U)John answered, saying to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His (V)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with (W)unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the gospel to the people. 19 But when (X)Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him because of (Y)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which (Z)Herod had done, 20 Herod also added this to them all: (AA)he locked John up in prison.
The Baptism of Jesus
21 (AB)Now it happened that when all the people were being baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was (AC)praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “(AD)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
The Genealogy of Jesus
23 (AE)When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, [h]as was supposed,
the son of (AF)Joseph,
[i]the son of [j]Eli,
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 [k]Hesli,
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,
(AG)the son of Zerubbabel,
the son of [l]Shealtiel,
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 [m]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 [n]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 (AH)the son of Jesse,
the son of Obed,
the son of Boaz,
the son of [o]Salmon,
the son of [p]Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab,
the son of Admin,
the son of [q]Ram,
the son of Hezron,
the son of Perez,
the son of Judah,
34 the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac,
(AI)the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah,
the son of Nahor,
35 the son of Serug,
the son of [r]Reu,
the son of Peleg,
the son of [s]Heber,
the son of Shelah,
36 the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad,
the son of Shem,
(AJ)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 Enosh,
the son of Seth,
the son of Adam,
the son of God.
Footnotes
- Luke 3:4 In OT, Yahweh, cf. Is 40:3
- Luke 3:5 Or leveled
- Luke 3:6 Or mankind
- Luke 3:8 Or in
- Luke 3:11 Gr khiton, the garment worn next to the skin
- Luke 3:13 Or Exact
- Luke 3:15 Messiah
- Luke 3:23 Lit as it was being thought
- Luke 3:23 Lit of Eli, so in genealogy
- Luke 3:23 Also spelled Heli
- Luke 3:25 Also spelled Esli
- Luke 3:27 Gr Salathiel; names of people in the Old Testament are given in their Old Testament form through v 38
- Luke 3:29 Gr Jesus
- Luke 3:30 Gr Judas
- Luke 3:32 Gr Sala
- Luke 3:32 Gr Naasson
- Luke 3:33 Gr Arni
- Luke 3:35 Gr Ragau
- Luke 3:35 Gr Eber
Luke 3
Common English Bible
John the Baptist’s message
3 In the fifteenth year of the rule of the emperor Tiberius—when Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea and Herod was ruler[a] over Galilee, his brother Philip was ruler[b] over Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was ruler[c] over Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—God’s word came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 John went throughout the region of the Jordan River, calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. 4 This is just as it was written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
A voice 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 leveled.
The crooked will be made straight
and the rough places made smooth.
6 All humanity will see God’s salvation.”[d]
7 Then John said to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? 8 Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children 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 chopped down and tossed into the fire.”
10 The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
11 He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”
14 Soldiers asked, “What about us? What should we do?”
He answered, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”
Responses to John
15 The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. 16 John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” 18 With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.
19 But Herod the ruler had been criticized harshly by John because of Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife, and because of all the evil he had done. 20 He added this to the list of his evil deeds: he locked John up in prison.
Jesus’ baptism
21 When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”
Jesus’ genealogy
23 Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. People supposed that he was the son of Joseph 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 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 son of Obed son of Boaz son of Sala son of Nahshon 33 son of Amminadab son of Admin son of Arni son of Hezron son of Perez son of Judah 34 son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham son of Terah son of Nahor 35 son of Serug son of Reu son of Peleg son of Eber son of Shelah 36 son of Cainan son of Arphaxad son of Shem son of Noah son of Lamech 37 son of Methuselah son of Enoch son of Jared son of Mahalalel son of Cainan 38 son of Enos son of Seth son of Adam son of God.
Footnotes
- Luke 3:1 Or tetrarch
- Luke 3:1 Or tetrarch
- Luke 3:1 Or tetrarch
- Luke 3:6 Isa 40:3-5
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