¹⁷ With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”^(A)

⁵ See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.^{(A) 6} He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.^[a]

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

²⁸ You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,^[a] but I have been sent ahead of him.’^(A)

²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”^{(A) 22} Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said,

as the prophet Isaiah said.^(B)

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,^[a] nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” ²⁸ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

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

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

¹¹ Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹² He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.”

¹¹ He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things,^{(A) 12} but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.”^(B)