Luke 3

The Messiah’s Herald

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ^vwhile Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, ^wHerod was tetrarch ^xof Galilee, ^yhis brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea ^zand Trachonitis, ^aand Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ^b2during the high priesthood of Annas ^cand Caiaphas, ^dGod’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ^e3He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, ^fpreaching a baptism of repentance ^gfor the forgiveness of sins, ^h4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

Prepare the way for the Lord;

make His paths straight!

⁵Every valley will be filled,

and every mountain and hill will be made low; ⁱ

the crooked will become straight,

the rough ways smooth,

⁶and everyone ^jwill see the salvation of God. ^kl

⁷He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! ^mWho warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁿ⁸Therefore produce fruit ^oconsistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ ^pfor I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁹Even now the ax is ready to strike ^qthe root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” ^r

¹⁰“What then should we do?” ^sthe crowds were asking him.

¹¹He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts ^tmust share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.” ^u

¹²Tax collectors ^valso came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ^w

¹³He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

¹⁴Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?”

He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds ^xwhether John might be the Messiah. ^y16John answered them all, ^z“I baptize you with ^awater, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with ^bthe Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing shovel ^cdis in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, ^ebut the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.” ^f18Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people. ¹⁹But Herod the tetrarch, ^gbeing rebuked by him about Herodias, his brother’s wife, and about all the evil things Herod had done, ^h20added this to everything else—he locked John up in prison. ⁱ

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹When all the people were baptized, ^jJesus also was baptized. As He was praying, ^kheaven opened, ^l22and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:

You are My beloved Son.

I take delight in You! ^m

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³As He began His ministry, Jesus was about 30 years old and was thought to be ⁿthe

son of Joseph, ^oson ^pof Heli,

²⁴son of Matthat, son of Levi,

son of Melchi, son of Jannai,

son of Joseph, ²⁵son of Mattathias,

son of Amos, son of Nahum,

son of Esli, son of Naggai,

²⁶son of Maath, son of Mattathias,

son of Semein, son of Josech,

son of Joda, ²⁷son of Joanan,

son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, ^q

son of Shealtiel, son of Neri,

²⁸son of Melchi, son of Addi,

son of Cosam, son of Elmadam,

son of Er, ²⁹son of Joshua,

son of Eliezer, son of Jorim,

son of Matthat, son of Levi,

³⁰son of Simeon, son of Judah,

son of Joseph, son of Jonam,

son of Eliakim, ³¹son of Melea,

son of Menna, son of Mattatha,

son of Nathan, son of David,

³²son of Jesse, ^rson of Obed, ^s

son of Boaz, son of Salmon, ^t

son of Nahshon, ³³son of Amminadab,

son of Ram, ^uson of Hezron,

son of Perez, ^vson of Judah,

³⁴son of Jacob, son of Isaac,

son of Abraham, ^wson of Terah,

son of Nahor, ³⁵son of Serug,

son of Reu, son of Peleg, ^x

son of Eber, son of Shelah,

³⁶son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad,

son of Shem, son of Noah, ^y

son of Lamech, ³⁷son of Methuselah,

son of Enoch, ^zson of Jared,

son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan,

³⁸son of Enos, son of Seth,

son of Adam, son of God.