Matthew 3
Revised Geneva Translation
3 And in those days, John the Baptist came and preached in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and said, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
3 For this is he of whom it is spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “The voice of him who cries in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! Make His paths straight!’”
4 And this John had his garment of camel’s hair, and a girdle of a skin around his loins. Also, his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around Jordan went out to him.
6 And they were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 Now, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, “O, generation of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the anger to come?
8 “Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of repentance!
9 “And do not think to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham even from these stones!
10 “And now, also, the axe is put to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bring forth good fruit, is cut down, and cast into the fire.
11 “Indeed, I baptize you with water to repentance! But He Who comes after me is mightier than me! I am not worthy to bear His shoes! He Who has His winnowing fork in His hand will baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,
12 “and will make His floor clean and gather His wheat into His garner; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him.
14 But John earnestly hindered Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You! And You come to me?”
15 Then Jesus, answering, said to him, “Let it be for now. For it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.” So, he permitted Him.
16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, came straight out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened to Him. And the Spirit of God was seen, descending like a Dove, and lighting upon Him.
17 And lo, a voice came from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased.”
Matthew 3
Complete Jewish Bible
3 It was during those days that Yochanan the Immerser arrived in the desert of Y’hudah and began proclaiming the message, 2 “Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” 3 This is the man Yesha‘yahu was talking about when he said,
“The voice of someone crying out:
‘In the desert prepare the way of Adonai!
Make straight paths for him!’”[a]
4 Yochanan wore clothes of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Yerushalayim, from all Y’hudah, and from the whole region around the Yarden. 6 Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River.
7 But when Yochanan saw many of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim coming to be immersed by him, he said to them, “You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? 8 If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it! 9 And don’t suppose you can comfort yourselves by saying, ‘Avraham is our father’! For I tell you that God can raise up for Avraham sons from these stones! 10 Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in the fire! 11 It’s true that I am immersing you in water so that you might turn from sin to God; but the one coming after me is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy even to carry his sandals — and he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. 12 He has with him his winnowing fork; and he will clear out his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn but burning up the straw with unquenchable fire!”
13 Then Yeshua came from the Galil to the Yarden to be immersed by Yochanan. 14 But Yochanan tried to stop him. “You are coming to me? I ought to be immersed by you!” 15 However, Yeshua answered him, “Let it be this way now, because we should do everything righteousness requires.” Then Yochanan let him. 16 As soon as Yeshua had been immersed, he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, he saw the Spirit of God coming down upon him like a dove, 17 and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:3 Isaiah 40:3
Matthew 3
New King James Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)
3 In those days (B)John the Baptist came preaching (C)in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for (D)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
(E)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(F)‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 Now (G)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (H)locusts and (I)wild honey. 5 (J)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 (K)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, (L)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from (M)the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, (N)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. (O)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 (P)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. (Q)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit [a]and fire. 12 (R)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will (S)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
John Baptizes Jesus(T)
13 (U)Then Jesus came (V)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 (W)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and [b]He saw (X)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 (Y)And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, (Z)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:11 M omits and fire
- Matthew 3:16 Or he
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
