John 1:19–34

A Voice in the Wilderness

¹⁹And this is ^athe witness of John, when ^bthe ¹Jews sent to him priests and Levites ^cfrom Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “^aI am not the ¹Christ.”

²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you ^aElijah?” And he ^*said, “I am not.” “Are you ^bthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

²²Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am ^aa voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the ¹Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

²⁵And they asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ¹Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^athe Prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, saying, “^aI baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

²⁷“This One is ^aHe who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the ^bstrap of His sandal.”

²⁸These things took place in Bethany ^abeyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹On the next day, he ^*saw Jesus coming to him and ^*said, “Behold, ^athe Lamb of God who ^btakes away the sin of the world!

³⁰“This is He of whom I said, ‘^aAfter me comes a man who has been ¹ahead of me, ^bfor He existed before me.’

³¹“I did not know ¹Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.”

³²And John ^abore witness saying, “^bI have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him.

³³“And I did not know ¹Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, ^athis is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

³⁴“And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is ^athe Son of God.”