Matthew 3:1–17

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.”