John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 ^(A)In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching in ^(C)the wilderness of Judea, ^2 (D)“Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^{[a] 3} For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

^17 (A)From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^(B)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^[a]

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^(A)God has made him ^(B)both Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^(C)whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when ^(D)they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ^(E)what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, ^(F)“Repent and ^(G)be baptized every one of you ^(H)in the name of Jesus Christ ^(I)for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^(J)the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For ^(K)the promise is for you and ^(L)for your children and for all ^(M)who are far off, everyone ^(N)whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ^(O)“Save yourselves from this ^(P)crooked generation.” ⁴¹ So those who received his word were baptized, and ^(Q)there were added that day about three thousand souls.

^29 (A)Being then God's offspring, ^(B)we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ^30 (C)The times of ignorance ^(D)God overlooked, but ^(E)now he ^(F)commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed ^(G)a day on which ^(H)he will judge the world ^(I)in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^(J)of this he has given assurance to all ^(K)by raising him from the dead.”