John Prepares the Way for Jesus^(A)

3 When it was the right time, John the Baptizer began telling people a message from God. This was out in the desert area of Judea. ² John said, “Change your hearts and lives, because God’s kingdom is now very near.^[a]” ³ John is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said,

⁴ John’s clothes were made from camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People came to John from Jerusalem and the rest of Judea and from all the areas along the Jordan River. ⁶ They confessed the bad things they had done, and John baptized them in the Jordan.

⁷ Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming? ⁸ Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed. ⁹ I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks. ¹⁰ The ax is now ready to cut down the trees.^[b] Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water to show that you have changed your hearts and lives. But there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who takes off his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² He will come ready to clean the grain.^[c] He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.”

John Prepares the Way for Jesus^(A)

3 It was the 15th year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar. These men were under Caesar:

² Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. During this time, John, the son of Zechariah, was living in the desert, and he received a message from God. ³ So he went through the whole area around the Jordan River and told the people God’s message. He told them to be baptized to show that they wanted to change their lives, and then their sins would be forgiven. ⁴ This is like the words written in the book of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ Crowds of people came to be baptized by John. But he said to them, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming? ⁸ Change your hearts! And show by your lives that you have changed. I know what you are about to say—‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks! ⁹ The ax is now ready to cut down the trees.^[a] Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁵ Everyone was hoping for the Messiah to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Messiah.”

¹⁶ John’s answer to this was, “I baptize you in water, but there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ He will come ready to clean the grain.^[a] He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.”

John Tells About the Messiah^(A)

¹⁹ The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, “Who are you?” He told them the truth. ²⁰ Without any hesitation he said openly and plainly, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”

They asked, “Are you the Prophet^[a]?”

He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”

²² Then they said, “Who are you? Tell us about yourself. Give us an answer to tell the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John told them the words of the prophet Isaiah:

²⁴ These Jews were sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They said to John, “You say you are not the Messiah. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”

²⁶ John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is someone here with you that you don’t know. ²⁷ He is the one who is coming later. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties the strings on his sandals.”

²⁸ These things all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.