Mark 1:1-8

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.^[a]

²^(B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

^(C)“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
³^(D)the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ^(E)‘Prepare^[c] the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

⁴^(F)John appeared, baptizing in ^(G)the wilderness and proclaiming ^(H)a baptism of ^(I)repentance ^(J)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(K)confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was ^(L)clothed with camel's hair and ^(M)wore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^(N)locusts and ^(O)wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, ^(P)“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸^(Q)I have baptized you with water, but ^(R)he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

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Footnotes

Mark 1:1 Some manuscripts omit the Son of God
Mark 1:2 Some manuscripts in the prophets
Mark 1:3 Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness

Luke 1:5-20

English Standard Version

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵^(A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^[a] ^(B)of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both ^(D)righteous before God, walking ^(E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because ^(F)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(G)both were advanced in years.

⁸Now ^(H)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(I)his division was on duty, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(J)to enter ^(K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people ^(L)were praying ^(M)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(N)the altar of incense. ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(O)fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(Q)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(R)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be ^(S)great before the Lord. And ^(T)he must not drink wine or strong ^(U)drink, and ^(V)he will be ^(W)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(X)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and ^(Y)he will go before him ^(Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AD)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AE)Gabriel. ^(AF)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, ^(AG)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”