Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

The Lord's Prayer

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.

But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”