Luke 3:2–17

²during ⁿthe high priesthood of Annas and ^oCaiaphas, ^pthe word of God came to ^qJohn the son of Zechariah in ^rthe wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^sa baptism of repentance ^tfor the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in ^uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^v“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

^w‘Prepare the way of the Lord,¹

make his paths straight.

^5xEvery valley shall be filled,

^yand every mountain and hill shall be made low,

^zand the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

^6aand all flesh shall see ^bthe salvation of God.’ ”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^c“You brood of ^dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^ethe wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits ^fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ⁱEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, ^j“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, ^k“Whoever has two tunics² is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^jwhat shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, ^m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ⁿwages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^owhether he might be ^pthe Christ, ^16qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^rhe who is mightier than I is coming, ^sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^twith the Holy Spirit and ^ufire. ¹⁷His ^vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^wgather the wheat into his barn, ^xbut the chaff he will burn with ^yunquenchable fire.”