The Messiah’s Herald

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,^(A) Herod was tetrarch^[a] of Galilee,^(B) his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas^(C) and Caiaphas,^(D) God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.^{(E) 3} He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan,^(F) proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,^{(G) 4} as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

⁷ He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers!^(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(J) 8} Therefore produce fruit^(K) consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’^(L) for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham 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 cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(M)

¹⁰ “What then should we do?” ^(N) the crowds were asking him.

¹¹ He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”^(O)

¹² Tax collectors^(P) also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ^(Q)

¹³ He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

¹⁴ Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?”

He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.^{(R) 16} John answered them all,^(S) “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with^[d] the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel^(T) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn,^(U) but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”^{(V) 18} Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people. ¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch^(W) because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,^{(X) 20} Herod added this to everything else—he locked up John in prison.^(Y)

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹ When all the people were baptized,^(Z) Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying,^(AA) heaven opened,^{(AB) 22} and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”^(AC)

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³ As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the