Matthew 3–4

The Messiah’s Herald

3In those days John the Baptist came, ⁱpreaching in the Wilderness of Judea ^j2and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” ^k3For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

Prepare the way for the Lord;

make His paths straight! ^lm

⁴John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, ⁶and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. ⁿ

⁷When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees ^ocoming to the place of his baptism, ^phe said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ^q8Therefore produce fruit ^rconsistent with ^srepentance. ⁹And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ^tFor I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁰Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ^u

¹¹“I baptize you with ^vwater for repentance, ^wxbut the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove ^yHis sandals. He Himself will baptize you with ^zthe Holy Spirit and fire. ^a12His winnowing shovel ^bis in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.” ^c

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ^d14But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.

¹⁶After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens ^esuddenly opened for Him, ^fand He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. ^g17And there came a voice from heaven:

This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him! ^h

The Temptation of Jesus

4Then ⁱJesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. ^j2After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, ^kHe was hungry. ³Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ^l

⁴But He answered, “It is written:

Man must not live on bread alone

but on every word that comes

from the mouth of God.” ^mn

⁵Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, ^ohad Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ^p6and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

He will give His angels ^qorders concerning you,

and they will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone.” ^rs

⁷Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” ^tu

⁸Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” ^v

¹⁰Then Jesus told him, “Go away, ^wSatan! For it is written:

Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only ^x Him.” ^y

¹¹Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him. ^z

Ministry in Galilee

¹²When He heard that John had been arrested, ^aHe withdrew into Galilee. ^b13He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum ^cby the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

along the sea road, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles!

¹⁶The people who live in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those living in the shadowland of death,

light has dawned. ^def

¹⁷From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven ^ghas come near!”

The First Disciples

¹⁸As ^hHe was walking along the Sea of Galilee, ⁱHe saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for ^jpeople!” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Teaching, Preaching, and Healing

²³Jesus was going all over Galilee, ^kteaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every ^ldisease and sickness among the people. ^m24Then the news about Him spread throughout Syria. ⁿSo they brought to Him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. ^oAnd He healed them. ²⁵Large crowds followed Him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. ^p