^17 (A)He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁴ And if you are willing to receive it, he is ^(A)Elijah who is to come.

²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^(A)‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ^(B)‘I have been sent before Him.’

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

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you ^(A)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: ^(B)“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, ^(D)“I baptize with water, ^(E)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ^27 (F)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 ^(G)in ^[b]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God^(H)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(I)The Lamb of God ^(J)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.’

¹⁸ O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You.

¹¹ And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say ^(A)that Elijah must come first?”

¹² Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And ^(B)how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and ^(C)be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that ^(D)Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”