¹⁷ and ^(A)he will go before him ^(B)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(C)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(D)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(E)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

^5 (A)“Behold, I will send you ^(B)Elijah the prophet ^(C)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will ^(D)turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^(E)strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”^[a]

¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept 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? ^(A)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(B)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(C)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[a] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, ^(D)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, ^(E)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even ^(F)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(G)the Lamb of God, who ^(H)takes away the sin ^(I)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(J)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

¹⁸ O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.

¹¹ And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say ^(A)that first Elijah must come?” ¹² And he said to them, “Elijah does come first ^(B)to restore all things. And ^(C)how is it written of the Son of Man that he should ^(D)suffer many things and ^(E)be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, and ^(F)they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”