Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The evidence of John

¹⁹ This is the evidence John gave, when the Judaeans sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰ He was quite open about it; he didn’t try to deny it. He said, quite openly, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ “What then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”

“No, I’m not,” he replied.

“Are you the Prophet?”

“No.”

²² “Well, then, who are you?” they said. “We’ve got to take some kind of answer back to the people who sent us. Who do you claim to be?”

²³ “I’m a voice calling in the desert,” he said, “ ‘Straighten out the road for the master!’ ”—just as the prophet Isaiah said.

²⁴ The people who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They continued to question him.

“So why are you baptizing,” they asked, “if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I’m baptizing with water,” John replied. “But there is someone standing among you that you don’t know, ²⁷ someone who is to come after me. I’m not good enough to undo his sandal-strap.”

²⁸ This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.