Luke 3

Chapter 3

John the Baptist Preaches

¹Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^aPontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^bHerod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

²in the high priesthood of ^aAnnas and ^bCaiaphas, ^cthe word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

³And he came into all ^athe district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“^aThe voice of one crying in the wilderness,

‘Make ready the way of the Lord,

Make His paths straight.

⁵‘^aEvery ravine will be filled,

And every mountain and hill will be ¹brought low;

The crooked will become straight,

And the rough roads smooth;

^6aAnd all ¹flesh will ^bsee the salvation of God.’ ”

⁷So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^aYou brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸“Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and ^ado not begin to say ¹to yourselves, ‘^bWe have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

⁹“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so ^aevery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^aThen what shall we do?”

¹¹And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to ^ashare with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

¹²And some ^atax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³And he said to them, “¹Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

¹⁴Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or ^aaccuse anyone falsely, and ^bbe content with your wages.”

¹⁵Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were ¹wondering in their hearts about John, ^aas to whether he was ²the Christ,

^16aJohn answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you ¹with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁷“His ^awinnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with ^bunquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

¹⁹But when ^aHerod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which ^bHerod had done,

²⁰Herod also added this to them all: ^ahe locked John up in prison.

Jesus Is Baptized

^21aNow when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was ^bpraying, heaven was opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “^aYou are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Genealogy of Jesus

^23aWhen He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, ¹as was supposed, the son of ^bJoseph, ²the son of ³Eli,

²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of ¹Hesli, the son of Naggai,

²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

²⁷the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^athe son of Zerubbabel, the son of ¹Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

²⁹the son of ¹Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of ¹Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

^32athe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of ¹Salmon, the son of ²Nahshon,

³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of ¹Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, ^athe son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵the son of Serug, the son of ¹Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of ²Heber, the son of Shelah,

³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, ^athe son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

³⁸the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.