Matthew 3:1
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The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,
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Isaiah 40:3-6
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3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.(A)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.(B)
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said,[a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.(C)
Footnotes
- 40.6 Q ms Gk Vg: MT and he said
Matthew 11:11
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11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
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Acts 13:24-25
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24 before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(A) 25 And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandals[a] on his feet.’(B)
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- 13.25 Gk untie the sandals
John 1:6-8
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6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
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Luke 1:76
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76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,(A)
Luke 1:13-17
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13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.(A) 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,(B) 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.(C) 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.(D) 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(E)
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Matthew 16:14
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14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”(A)
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Acts 19:3-4
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3 Then he said, “Into what, then, were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.”(A) 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.”(B)
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Acts 1:22
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22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”(A)
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Luke 7:24
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24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus[a] began to speak to the crowds about John:[b] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
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Luke 3:1-20
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The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,(A) 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.(B) 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.(C)
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”(D)
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(E) 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.(F) 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(G)
10 And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?”(H) 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”(I) 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”(J) 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”(K) 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”(L)
15 As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,[a](M) 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire.(N) 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(O)
18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people. 19 But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done,(P) 20 added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
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Mark 6:16-29
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16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”(A)
17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod[a] had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”(B) 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed,[b] and yet he liked to listen to him.(C) 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.(D) 22 When his daughter Herodias[c] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he swore[d] to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”(E) 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 The king was deeply grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s[e] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
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