Matthew 3-4

Tree of Life Version

John’s Witness to Israel’s Leaders

3 In those days, John the Immerser came proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” ^{[a] 3} For he is the one Isaiah the prophet spoke about, saying,

⁴ Now John wore clothing from camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts^[c] and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were being immersed by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance; ⁹ and do not think that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’! For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!

¹¹ “As for me, I immerse you in water for repentance. But the One coming after me is mightier than I am; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will immerse you in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn; but the chaff He shall burn up with inextinguishable fire.”^[d]

The Heavens Open at Yeshua’s Mikveh

¹³ Then Yeshua came from the Galilee to John, to be immersed by him in the Jordan. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be immersed by You, and You are coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Yeshua responded, “Let it happen now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So John yielded to Him.

¹⁶ After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim^[e] descending like a dove and coming upon Him. ¹⁷ And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”^[f]

Overcoming Temptation with God’s Word

4 Then Yeshua was led by the Ruach into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. ³ And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are Ben-Elohim, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ But He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”^[g]

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the highest point of the Temple. ⁶ “If You are Ben-Elohim,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written,

⁷ Yeshua said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’”^[j]

⁸ Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Yeshua says to him, “Go away, satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’” ^{[k] 11} Then the devil leaves Him. And behold, angels came and began to take care of Him.

Yeshua Withdraws to Seek God

¹² Now when Yeshua heard that John had been handed over, He withdrew to the Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Natzeret, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁷ From then on, Yeshua began to proclaim, “Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Raising Up Fishers of Men

¹⁸ Now as Yeshua was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter and Andrew his brother. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, Jacob the son of Zebedee and John his brother. They were in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

²³ Yeshua was going throughout all the Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about Him spread throughout all Syria. And they brought to Him all the sick—those tormented by various diseases and afflictions, those plagued by demons, the epileptics, the paralyzed—and He healed them. ²⁵ And large crowds followed Him from the Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.