Matthew 3-4

New American Standard Bible

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 ^[c]is at hand.” ³For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

“^(G)The voice of one ^[e]calling ^[f]out in the wilderness,
‘^(H)Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”

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

⁷But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[h]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[i]^(P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ⁸^(R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹and 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. ¹⁰And 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 ^[j]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 ^[k]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His ^(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. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵But 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. ¹⁶After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[l]^(AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[m]settling on Him, ¹⁷and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(AG)This is ^[n]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(AH)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(AI)to be tempted by the devil. ²And after He had ^(AJ)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[o]then became hungry. ³And ^(AK)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^(AL)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘^(AM)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil *took Him along into ^(AN)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

‘^(AO)He will give His angels orders concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will lift You up,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus said to him, “^[p]On the other hand, it is written: ‘^(AP)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸^(AQ)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹and he said to Him, “^(AR)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and ^[q]worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘^(AS)You shall worship the Lord your God, and ^[r]serve Him only.’” ¹¹Then the devil *left Him; and behold, ^(AT)angels came and began to serve Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when Jesus heard that ^(AU)John had been taken into custody, ^(AV)He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^(AW)settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

¹⁵“^(AX)The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
^[s]By the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the ^[t]Gentiles—
¹⁶^(AY)The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

¹⁷^(AZ)From that time Jesus began to ^[u]preach and say, “^(BA)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[v]is at hand.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸^(BB)Now as Jesus was walking by ^(BC)the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^(BD)Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And He *said to them, “^[w]Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^[x]^(BE)James the son of Zebedee, and his brother ^[y]John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³Jesus was going ^(BF)about in all of Galilee, ^(BG)teaching in their synagogues and ^(BH)proclaiming the ^[z]gospel of the kingdom, and ^(BI)healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

²⁴And the news about Him spread ^(BJ)throughout Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and severe pain, ^(BK)demon-possessed, people with ^(BL)epilepsy, and people who were ^(BM)paralyzed; and He healed them. ²⁵Large crowds ^(BN)followed Him from Galilee and ^(BO)the Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from ^(BP)beyond the Jordan.