John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ^2 [a]while ^(C)Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to ^(D)John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ^3 (E)And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^(F)for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

John Preaches to the People^(I)

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ^(J)“Brood^[b] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits ^(K)worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore ^(L)every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, ^(M)“What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, ^(N)“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, ^(O)let him do likewise.”

¹² Then ^(P)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, ^(Q)“Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[c]intimidate anyone ^(R)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, ^(S)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will ^(T)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and ^(U)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.

John Baptizes Jesus^(A)

^13 (B)Then Jesus came ^(C)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

^16 (D)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and ^[a]He saw ^(E)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ^17 (F)And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ^(G)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(A)

²¹ When all the people were baptized, ^(B)it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am ^(C)well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ^(D)

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at ^(E)about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) ^(F)the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Satan Tempts Jesus^(A)

4 Then ^(B)Jesus was led up by ^(C)the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ^(D)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil took Him up ^(E)into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

and,

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ^(H)‘You shall not ^[a]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and ^(I)showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^[b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ^(J)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil ^(K)left Him, and behold, ^(L)angels came and ministered to Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness^(A)

¹⁹ Now this is ^(B)the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

^20 (C)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

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

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you ^(D)the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³ He said: ^(E)“I am

as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, saying, ^(G)“I baptize with water, ^(H)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ^27 (I)It is He who, coming after me, ^[a]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

²⁸ These things were done ^(J)in ^[b]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God^(K)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(L)The Lamb of God ^(M)who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[c]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^(N)therefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32 (O)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^(P)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(Q)Son of God.”