Chronological

3 It was during those days that Yochanan the Immerser arrived in the desert of Y’hudah and began proclaiming the message, ² “Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!” ³ This is the man Yesha‘yahu was talking about when he said,

⁴ Yochanan wore clothes of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Yerushalayim, from all Y’hudah, and from the whole region around the Yarden. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River.

⁷ But when Yochanan saw many of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim coming to be immersed by him, he said to them, “You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? ⁸ If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it! ⁹ And don’t suppose you can comfort yourselves by saying, ‘Avraham is our father’! For I tell you that God can raise up for Avraham sons from these stones! ¹⁰ Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in the fire! ¹¹ It’s true that I am immersing you in water so that you might turn from sin to God; but the one coming after me is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy even to carry his sandals — and he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. ¹² He has with him his winnowing fork; and he will clear out his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn but burning up the straw with unquenchable fire!”

¹³ Then Yeshua came from the Galil to the Yarden to be immersed by Yochanan. ¹⁴ But Yochanan tried to stop him. “You are coming to me? I ought to be immersed by you!” ¹⁵ However, Yeshua answered him, “Let it be this way now, because we should do everything righteousness requires.” Then Yochanan let him. ¹⁶ As soon as Yeshua had been immersed, he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, he saw the Spirit of God coming down upon him like a dove, ¹⁷ and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him.”

1 The beginning of the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God:

² It is written in the prophet Yesha‘yahu,

⁴ So it was that Yochanan the Immerser appeared in the desert, proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven. ⁵ People went out to him from all over Y’hudah, as did all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River. ⁶ Yochanan wore clothes of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed: “After me is coming someone who is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy even to bend down and untie his sandals. ⁸ I have immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh.”

⁹ Shortly thereafter, Yeshua came from Natzeret in the Galil and was immersed in the Yarden by Yochanan. ¹⁰ Immediately upon coming up out of the water, he saw heaven torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; ¹¹ then a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you.”

¹² Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness, ¹³ and he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by the Adversary. He was with the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.

¹⁴ After Yochanan had been arrested, Yeshua came into the Galil proclaiming the Good News from God:

¹⁶ As he walked beside Lake Kinneret, he saw Shim‘on and Andrew, Shim‘on’s brother, casting a net into the lake; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Yeshua said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you into fishers for men!” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ Going on a little farther, he saw Ya‘akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, his brother, in their boat, repairing their nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zavdai in the boat with the hired men and went after Yeshua.

²¹ They entered K’far-Nachum, and on Shabbat Yeshua went into the synagogue and began teaching. ²² They were amazed at the way he taught, for he did not instruct them like the Torah-teachers but as one who had authority himself.

²³ In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, “Be quiet and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing the man into a convulsion, it gave a loud shriek and came out of him. ²⁷ They were all so astounded that they began asking each other, “What is this? A new teaching, one with authority behind it! He gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” ²⁸ And the news about him spread quickly through the whole region of the Galil.

²⁹ They left the synagogue and went with Ya‘akov and Yochanan to the home of Shim‘on and Andrew. ³⁰ Shim‘on’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and they told Yeshua about her. ³¹ He came, took her by the hand and lifted her onto her feet. The fever left her, and she began helping them.

³² That evening after sundown, they brought to Yeshua all who were ill or held in the power of demons, ³³ and the whole town came crowding around the door. ³⁴ He healed many who were ill with various diseases and expelled many demons, but he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up, left, went away to a lonely spot and stayed there praying. ³⁶ But Shim‘on and those with him went after him; ³⁷ and when they found him, they said, “Everybody is looking for you.” ³⁸ He answered, “Let’s go somewhere else — to the other villages around here. I have to proclaim the message there too — in fact this is why I came out.” ³⁹ So he traveled all through the Galil, preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.

⁴⁰ A man afflicted with tzara‘at came to Yeshua and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, Yeshua reached out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” ⁴² Instantly the tzara‘at left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ Yeshua sent him away with this stern warning: ⁴⁴ “See to it that you tell no one; instead, as a testimony to the people, go and let the cohen examine you, and offer for your cleansing what Moshe commanded.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began spreading the news, talking freely about it; so that Yeshua could no longer enter a town openly but stayed out in the country, where people continued coming to him from all around.

3 In the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius’ rule; when Pontius Pilate was governor of Y’hudah, Herod ruler of the Galil, his brother Philip ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, ² with ‘Anan and Kayafa being the cohanim g’dolim; the word of God came to Yochanan Ben-Z’kharyah in the desert. ³ He went all through the Yarden region proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven. ⁴ It was just as had been written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Yesha‘yahu,

⁷ Therefore, Yochanan said to the crowds who came out to be immersed by him, “You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? ⁸ If you have really turned from your sins, produce fruit that will prove it! And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘Avraham is our father’! For I tell you that God can raise up for Avraham sons from these stones! ⁹ Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in the fire!”

¹⁰ The crowds asked Yochanan, “So then, what should we do?” ¹¹ He answered, “Whoever has two coats should share with somebody who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” ¹² Tax-collectors also came to be immersed; and they asked him, “Rabbi, what should we do?” ¹³ “Collect no more than the government assesses,” he told them. ¹⁴ Some soldiers asked him, “What about us? What should we do?” To them he said, “Don’t intimidate anyone, don’t accuse people falsely, and be satisfied with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were in a state of great expectancy, and everyone was wondering whether perhaps Yochanan himself might be the Messiah; ¹⁶ so Yochanan answered them all, “I am immersing you in water, but he who is coming is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy to untie his sandals! He will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh and in fire. ¹⁷ He has with him his winnowing fork to clear out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the straw with unquenchable fire!”

¹⁸ And with many other warnings besides these he announced the Good News to the people.

¹⁹ But Yochanan also denounced Herod the regional governor for taking as his own wife Herodias, the wife of his brother, and for all the other wicked things Herod had done; ²⁰ whereupon Herod added this to the rest: he locked up Yochanan in prison.

²¹ While all the people were being immersed, Yeshua too was immersed. As he was praying, heaven was opened; ²² the Ruach HaKodesh came down on him in physical form like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you.”

²³ Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. It was supposed that he was a son of Yosef who was of Eli,

²⁴ of Mattat, of Levi, of Malki, of Yannai, of Yosef,

²⁵ of Mattityahu, of Amotz, of Nachum, of Hesli, of Naggai,

²⁶ of Machat, of Mattityahu, of Shim‘i, of Yosef, of Yodah,

²⁷ of Yochanan, of Reisha, of Z’rubavel, of Sh’altiel, of Neri,

²⁸ of Malki, of Addi, of Kosam, of Elmadan, of Er,

²⁹ of Yeshua, of Eli‘ezer, of Yoram, of Mattat, of Levi,

³⁰ of Shim‘on, of Y’hudah, of Yosef, of Yonam, of Elyakim,

³¹ of Mal’ah, of Manah, of Mattatah, of Natan, of David,

³² of Yishai, of ‘Oved, of Bo‘az, of Salmon, of Nachshon,

³³ of Amminadav, of Admin, of Arni, of Hetzron, of Peretz, of Y’hudah,

³⁴ of Ya‘akov, of Yitz’chak, of Avraham, of Terach, of Nachor,

³⁵ of S’rug, of Re‘u, of Peleg, of ‘Ever, of Shelah,

³⁶ of Keinan, of Arpakhshad, of Shem, of Noach, of Lemekh,

³⁷ of Metushelach, of Hanokh, of Yered, of Mahalal’el, of Keinan,

³⁸ of Enosh, of Shet, of Adam, of God.