^1:7He proclaimed,¹⁵ “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy¹⁶ to bend down and untie the strap¹⁷ of his sandals. ^1:8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

^1:9Now¹⁸ in those days Jesus came from Nazareth¹⁹ in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.²⁰^1:10And just as Jesus²¹ was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens²² splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.²³^1:11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son;²⁴ in you I take great delight.”²⁵

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Footnotes

15 Grk “proclaimed, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
16 Grk “of whom I am not worthy.” The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.
17 The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.
18 Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
19 For location see ; ; ; ; .
20 “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
21 Grk “and immediately coming up out of the water, he saw.” The present participle has been translated temporally, with the subject (Jesus) specified for clarity.
22 Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 11.
23 The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
24 Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agapētos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also 1).
25 Or “with you I am well pleased.” The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12, 16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in you I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32–33).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

NLTNew Living Translation

John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he was preaching, saying, “One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

And it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And immediately as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being split apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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