Book of Common Prayer

¹⁷ These people are springs without water. They are patches of fog driven along by a storm. The depth of darkness has been reserved for them! ¹⁸ They utter bombastic words of folly as they entice, with licentious fleshly desires, those who have only just escaped from the company of people who behave improperly. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. (A person who is defeated by something, you see, is enslaved to it.) ²⁰ For if they have fled the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus the Messiah, but again become entangled in them and are defeated, they have ended up in a worse state than they were before. ²¹ It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment which had been given to them. ²² There is a true proverb which now applies to them: the dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow gets washed only to wallow once more in the mud.

² Meanwhile, John, who was in prison, heard about these messianic goings-on. He sent word through his followers.

³ “Are you the one who is coming?” he asked. “Or should we be looking for someone else?”

⁴ “Go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard,” replied Jesus. ⁵ “Blind people are seeing! Lame people are walking! People with virulent skin diseases are being cleansed! Deaf people can hear again! The dead are being raised to life! And—the poor are hearing the good news! ⁶ And God bless you if you’re not upset by what I’m doing.”

The identity of John the Baptist

⁷ As the messengers were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.

“What were you expecting to see,” he asked, “when you went out into the desert? A reed wobbling in the wind? ⁸ No? Then, what were you expecting to see? Someone dressed in silks and satins? If you want to see people like that you’d have to go to somebody’s royal palace. ⁹ All right, so what were you expecting to see? A prophet? Ah, now we’re getting there: yes indeed, and much more than a prophet! ¹⁰ This is the one the Bible was talking about when it says,

¹¹ “I’m telling you the truth: John the Baptist is the greatest mother’s son there ever was. But even the least significant person in heaven’s kingdom is greater than he is. ¹² From the time of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcing its way in—and the men of force are trying to grab it! ¹³ All the prophets and the law, you see, made their prophecies up to the time of John. ¹⁴ In fact, if you’ll believe it, he is Elijah, the one who was to come. ¹⁵ If you’ve got ears, then listen!”