Matthew 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Messiah’s Herald
3 In those days John the Baptist came,(A) preaching in the Wilderness of Judea(B) 2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”(C) 3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make His paths straight!(D)[a]
4 John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.(E)
7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees(F) coming to the place of his baptism,[b] he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(G) 8 Therefore produce fruit(H) consistent with[c] repentance. 9 And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’(I) For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(J)
11 “I baptize you with[d] water for repentance,[e](K) but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove[f] His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit and fire.(L) 12 His winnowing shovel[h] is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.”(M)
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.(N) 14 But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”
15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.
16 After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens(O) suddenly opened for Him,[i] and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him.(P) 17 And there came a voice from heaven:
This is My beloved Son.
I take delight in Him!(Q)
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:3 Is 40:3
- Matthew 3:7 Lit to his baptism
- Matthew 3:8 Lit fruit worthy of
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 3:11 Baptism was the means by which repentance was expressed publicly.
- Matthew 3:11 Or to carry
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 3:12 A wooden farm implement used to toss threshed grain into the wind so the lighter chaff would blow away and separate from the heavier grain
- Matthew 3:16 Other mss omit for Him
Matthew 3
Living Bible
3 While they were living in Nazareth,[a] John the Baptist began preaching out in the Judean wilderness. His constant theme was, 2 “Turn from your sins . . . turn to God . . . for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming soon.”[b] 3 Isaiah the prophet had told about John’s ministry centuries before! He had written,
“I hear[c] a shout from the wilderness, ‘Prepare a road for the Lord—straighten out the path where he will walk.’”
4 John’s clothing was woven from camel’s hair and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all over the Jordan Valley, and, in fact, from every section of Judea went out to the wilderness to hear him preach, 6 and when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees[d] and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them.
“You sons of snakes!” he warned. “Who said that you could escape the coming wrath of God? 8 Before being baptized, prove that you have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds. 9 Don’t try to get by as you are, thinking, ‘We are safe for we are Jews—descendants of Abraham.’ That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into Jews![e]
10 “And even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised to chop down every unproductive tree. They will be chopped and burned.
11 “With water[f] I baptize those who repent of their sins; but someone else is coming, far greater than I am, so great that I am not worthy to carry his shoes! He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He will separate the chaff from the grain, burning the chaff with never-ending fire and storing away the grain.”
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized there by John. 14 John didn’t want to do it.
“This isn’t proper,” he said. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you.”
15 But Jesus said, “Please do it, for I must do all that is right.”[g] So then John baptized him.
16 After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:1 While they were living in Nazareth, literally, “In those days.”
- Matthew 3:2 is coming soon, or “has arrived”; literally, “is at hand.”
- Matthew 3:3 I hear, implied. See Isaiah 40:3.
- Matthew 3:7 Pharisees, Jewish religious leaders who strictly followed the letter of the law but often violated its intent. Sadducees, Jewish political leaders.
- Matthew 3:9 God can change these stones here into Jews, literally, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
- Matthew 3:11 With water . . . with the Holy Spirit, or “In water . . . in the Holy Spirit.”
- Matthew 3:15 do all that is right, literally, “fulfill all righteousness.”
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