The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[c]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[f](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[g]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[h](P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ^8 (R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the ^(U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(W)I baptize you ^[i]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(X)He will baptize you ^[j]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AA)chaff with ^(AB)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13 (AC)Then Jesus *arrived ^(AD)from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AE)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ¹⁶ After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[k](AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[l]settling on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(AG)This is ^[m]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Preaching of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God,

^2 (B)just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^[c](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(F)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(G)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[d]his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was ^[e]preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you ^[f]with water; but He will baptize you ^[g]with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (H)In those days Jesus ^(I)came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens ^[h]opening, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came from the heavens: “^(J)You are My beloved Son; in You I ^[i]am well pleased.”

John the Baptist Preaches

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of ^(C)Annas and ^(D)Caiaphas, ^(E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all ^(F)the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^[a]for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^(K)You ^[d]offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruits that are consistent with repentance, and ^(L)do not start saying ^[e]to yourselves, ‘^(M)We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so ^(N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^(O)Then what are we to do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two ^[f]tunics is to ^(P)share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² Now even ^(Q)tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “^[g]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor ^[h](R)harass anyone, and ^(S)be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and they all were thinking carefully in their hearts about John, ^(T)whether he himself perhaps was the ^[i]Christ, ^16 (U)John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you ^[j]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His ^(V)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with ^(W)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

The Witness John the Baptist

⁶ A man ^[a]came, one sent from God, and his name was ^(A)John. ^7 [b]He came ^[c](B)as a witness, to testify about the Light, ^(C)so that all might believe through him. ^8 [d](D)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

^9 [e]This was ^(E)the true Light ^[f]that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and ^(F)the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not ^[g]know Him. ¹¹ He came to His ^[h]own, and His own people did not ^[i]accept Him. ¹² But ^[j]as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^(G)children of God, ^(H)to those who ^[k]believe in His name, ^13 (I)who were ^[l]born, not of ^[m]blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And ^(J)the Word ^(K)became flesh, and ^(L)dwelt among us; and ^(M)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of ^(N)grace and ^(O)truth. ¹⁵ John *^(P)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^(Q)He who is coming after me has proved to be ^[n]my superior, ^(R)because He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His ^(S)fullness ^[o]we have all received, and ^[p]grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For ^(T)the Law was given through Moses; ^(U)grace and ^(V)truth ^[q]were realized through Jesus Christ. ^18 (W)No one has seen God at any time; ^(X)God the only Son, who is ^(Y)in the ^[r]arms of the Father, ^(Z)He has ^[s]explained Him.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is ^(AA)the testimony of John, when ^(AB)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(AC)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(AD)I am not the ^[t]Christ.” ²¹ And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(AE)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AF)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(AG)the voice of one calling ^[u]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[v]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(AH)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(AI)I baptize ^[w]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(AJ)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(AK)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(AL)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(AM)the Lamb of God who ^(AN)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(AO)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[x]my superior, ^(AP)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[y]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[z]in water.” ³² And John ^(AQ)testified, saying, “^(AR)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[aa]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[ab]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(AS)this is the One who baptizes ^[ac]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(AT)the ^[ad]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(AU)the next day John was standing ^[ae]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(AV)the Lamb of God!”