Matthew 3–4

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3^hIn those days ⁱJohn the Baptist came preaching in ^jthe wilderness of Judea, ^2k“Repent, for ^lthe kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^{1 3}For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

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

ⁿ‘Prepare² the way of the Lord;

make his paths straight.’ ”

⁴Now John wore ^oa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^plocusts and ^qwild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^rconfessing their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of ^sthe Pharisees and ^tSadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^u“You brood of ^vvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^wthe wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruit ^xin keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^y‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^zthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^aEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

^11b“I baptize you with water ^cfor repentance, but ^dhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^ewith the Holy Spirit and ^ffire. ¹²His ^gwinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^hgather his wheat into the barn, ⁱbut the chaff he will burn with ^junquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13kThen Jesus came ^lfrom Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ^14mJohn would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, ^othe heavens were opened to him,³ and he ^psaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷and behold, ^qa voice from heaven said, ^r“This is my beloved Son,⁴ with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4^sThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^tto be tempted by the devil. ²And after fasting ^uforty days and forty nights, he ^vwas hungry. ³And ^wthe tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^xthe Son of God, command ^ythese stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered, ^z“It is written,

^a“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

^5bThen the devil took him to ^cthe holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

^d“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “Again ^eit is written, ^f‘You shall not ^gput the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ^8hAgain, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ⁱSatan! For ^jit is written,

^k“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and ^lhim only shall you serve.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and behold, ^mangels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when he heard that ⁿJohn had been arrested, ^ohe withdrew into Galilee. ¹³And leaving ^pNazareth he went and lived in ^qCapernaum by ^rthe sea, in the territory of ^sZebulun and Naphtali, ^14tso that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

^15u“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

^16vthe people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and ^wshadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

^17xFrom that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^z“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”¹

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^18aWhile walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^cfishers of men.”^{2 20}Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

^23dAnd he went throughout all Galilee, ^eteaching in their synagogues and ^fproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^ghealing every disease and every affliction among the people. ²⁴So his fame spread throughout all ^hSyria, and ^gthey brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ⁱpains, ^jthose oppressed by demons, ^kthose having seizures, and ^lparalytics, and he healed them. ^25mAnd great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ⁿDecapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.