Matthew 3
International Standard Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)
3 About this time,[a] John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Judean wilderness, 2 “Repent, because the kingdom from[b] heaven is near!” 3 He was the one the prophet Isaiah was referring to when he said,
“He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord![c]
Make his paths straight!’”[d]
4 John had clothing made of camel’s hair and wore[e] a leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of grasshoppers[f] and wild honey.
5 Then the people of[g] Jerusalem, all Judea, and the entire region along the Jordan began flocking to him, 6 being baptized by him in the Jordan River while they confessed their sins.
7 But when John[h] saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing,[i] he told them, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! 9 Don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! 10 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree that isn’t producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I am baptizing you with[j] water as evidence of repentance,[k] but the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. It is he who will baptize you with[l] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clean up his threshing floor and gather his grain into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”
Jesus is Baptized(B)
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be this way for now, because this is the proper way for us to fulfill all righteousness.”[m]
At this, he permitted him to be baptized.[n] 16 When Jesus had been baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Suddenly, the heavens opened up for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. 17 Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him!”
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:1 Lit. In those days
- Matthew 3:2 Lit. of
- Matthew 3:3 MT and DSS source citations read Lord
- Matthew 3:3 Cf. Isa 40:3
- Matthew 3:4 The Gk. lacks wore
- Matthew 3:4 Or locust-shaped carob seed pods
- Matthew 3:5 The Gk. lacks the people of
- Matthew 3:7 Lit. he
- Matthew 3:7 Lit. to his baptism
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 3:11 Lit. for repentance
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 3:15 Cf. Dan 9:24
- Matthew 3:15 The Gk. lacks to be baptized
Matthew 3
Lexham English Bible
John the Baptist Begins His Ministry
3 Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Judean wilderness 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 3 For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”[a]
4 Now John himself had his clothing made from camel’s hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they[b] confessed their sins.
7 But when he[c] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! 9 And do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John in order to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent[d] him, saying, “I need[e] to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and[f] said to him, “Permit it now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted him. 16 Now after he[g] was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened[h] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming[i] upon him. 17 And behold, there was[j] a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:3 A quotation from Isa 40:3
- Matthew 3:6 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“confessed”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 3:7 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 3:14 The imperfect verb is understood as conative (“tried to”)
- Matthew 3:14 Literally “I have need”
- Matthew 3:15 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Matthew 3:16 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was baptized”) which is understood as temporal
- Matthew 3:16 Some manuscripts have “opened to him”
- Matthew 3:16 Some manuscripts have “and coming”
- Matthew 3:17 The words “there was” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to make a complete sentence in English
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