The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.” ³ For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[g](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[h]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[i](P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ^8 (R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the ^(U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, ^(W)I baptize you ^[j]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(X)He will baptize you ^[k]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His ^(Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AA)chaff with ^(AB)unquenchable fire.”

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^[b](B)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(C)forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore ^(D)a leather belt around his waist, and ^[c]his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was ^[d]preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you ^[e]with water; but He will baptize you ^[f]with the Holy Spirit.”

² in the high priesthood of ^(A)Annas and ^(B)Caiaphas, ^(C)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all ^(D)the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^[a]for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^(I)You ^[d]offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruits that are consistent with repentance, and ^(J)do not start saying ^[e]to yourselves, ‘^(K)We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so ^(L)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^(M)Then what are we to do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two ^[f]tunics is to ^(N)share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² Now even ^(O)tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “^[g]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor ^[h](P)harass anyone, and ^(Q)be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and they all were thinking carefully in their hearts about John, ^(R)whether he himself perhaps was the ^[i]Christ, ^16 (S)John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you ^[j]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His ^(T)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with ^(U)unquenchable fire.”

The Witness John the Baptist

⁶ A man ^[a]came, one sent from God, and his name was ^(A)John. ^7 [b]He came ^[c](B)as a witness, to testify about the Light, ^(C)so that all might believe through him. ^8 [d](D)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is ^(A)the testimony of John, when ^(B)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(C)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(D)I am not the ^[a]Christ.” ²¹ And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(E)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(F)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(G)the voice of one calling ^[b]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[c]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(H)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(I)I baptize ^[d]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(J)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(K)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(L)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.