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Luke 3:1-18
Lexham English Bible
Luke 3:1-18
Lexham English Bible
John the Baptist Begins His Ministry
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,[a] when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 in the time of the high priest Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the surrounding region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight!
5 Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled,
and the crooked will become straight,
and the rough road will become[b] smooth,
6 and all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”[c]
7 Therefore he was saying to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 9 And even now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were asking him, saying, “What then should we do?” 11 And he answered and[d] said to them, “The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have one,[e] and the one who has food must do likewise.” 12 And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you are ordered to.”[f] 14 And those who served in the army were also asking him, saying, “What should we also do?” And he said to them, “Extort from no one, and do not blackmail anyone,[g] and be content with your pay.”
15 And while[h] the people were waiting expectantly and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,[i] 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations also he proclaimed good news to the people.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 3:1 Or “the emperor Tiberius”
- Luke 3:5 Here “will become” is an implied repetition of the verb earlier in the verse
- Luke 3:6 A quotation from Isa 40:3–5
- Luke 3:11 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Luke 3:11 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Luke 3:13 Literally “what is ordered to you”
- Luke 3:14 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Luke 3:15 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“were waiting expectantly”)
- Luke 3:15 Or “Messiah”
Luke 3:1-18
New International Version
Luke 3:1-18
New International Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)(B)
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate(C) was governor of Judea, Herod(D) tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,(E) the word of God came to John(F) son of Zechariah(G) in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.(H) 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”[a](I)
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!(J) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(K) 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’(L) For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(M)
10 “What should we do then?”(N) the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”(O)
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized.(P) “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,”(Q) he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely(R)—be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John(S) might possibly be the Messiah.(T) 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[b] water.(U) But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire.(V) 17 His winnowing fork(W) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”(X) 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
Luke 3:1-18
New Living Translation
Luke 3:1-18
New Living Translation
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler[a] over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler[b] over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!
5 The valleys will be filled,
and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
and the rough places made smooth.
6 And then all people will see
the salvation sent from God.’”[c]
7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
10 The crowds asked, “What should we do?”
11 John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”
14 “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.
John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with[d] water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.[e] 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.
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Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.