John Preaches About the Christ^(A)

¹¹ “I baptize you with water ·to show that your hearts and lives have changed [for repentence]. But there is one coming after me who is ·greater [mightier; more powerful] than I am, whose sandals I am not ·good enough [fit; qualified] to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² ·He will come ready [^LThe winnowing fork is in his hand] to clean the grain, ·separating the good grain from the chaff [^Lto clear his threshing floor]. He will put ·the good part of the grain [^Lthe grain/wheat] into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with ·a fire that cannot be put out [never-ending/unquenchable fire; ^Ca metaphor for judgment, when Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked].”

⁷ This is what John preached to the people: “There is one coming after me who is ·greater [mightier; more powerful] than I; I am not ·good enough [fit; qualified] even to kneel down and untie [^Lthe thong/strap of] his sandals [^Ca task of a servant or slave]. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁵ Since the people were ·hoping [waiting expectantly] for the ·Christ [Messiah] to come, they [^Lall] wondered if John might be the ·one [^LChrist; Messiah].

¹⁶ John answered everyone, “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is ·greater [more powerful; mightier] than I am. I am not ·good enough [fit; qualified] to untie [^Lthe thong/strap of] his sandals [^Ca task of a servant or slave]. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ ·He will come ready [^LThe winnowing fork is in his hand] to ·clean the grain, separating the good grain from the chaff [^Lclear his threshing floor]. He will put ·the good part of the grain [^Lthe grain/wheat] into his ·barn [storehouse], but he will burn the chaff with ·a fire that cannot be put out [never-ending/unquenchable fire; ^Ca metaphor for judgment, when Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked].” ¹⁸ And John continued to preach the ·Good News [Gospel], saying many other things to ·encourage [exhort] the people.

²⁴ Some Pharisees [^Ca religious party which strictly observed OT laws and later customs] who had been sent asked John: ²⁵ “If you are not the ·Christ [Messiah] or Elijah or the Prophet [1:21], why do you baptize people?”

²⁶ John answered, “I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don’t ·know about [recognize]. ²⁷ He is the One who comes after me. I am not ·good enough [worthy; fit] to untie the ·strings [straps] of his sandals.” [^CRemoving sandals was the task of a slave.]

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River [^Ca site east of the Jordan River, not the Bethany near Jerusalem], where John was baptizing people.