²⁹ When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right,^[a] for they had been baptized by John.

¹² Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

³⁵ But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.^[a]”

⁵ And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying,

³ And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

⁴ Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,

⁵ “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) ⁶ Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?

³ “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.

And they replied, “The baptism of John.”

²⁵ He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit^[a] and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism.

³¹ “Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”^[a]

Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. ³² For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.