⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,

⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(A)confessing their sins.

³⁵ He was a burning and ^(A)shining lamp, and ^(B)you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

²³ John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized

^16 (A)“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then ^(B)the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and ^(C)everyone forces his way into it.^[a]

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(A)“You brood of ^(B)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(C)the wrath to come?

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(A)into the wilderness to see? ^(B)A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man^[a] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? ^(C)A prophet?^[b] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ^12 (E)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[c] and the violent take it by force.

^25 (A)And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ^(B)Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.