Matthew 3–4

Chapter 3

The Preaching of John the Baptist

¹Now ^ain those days ^bJohn the Baptist ¹came, ²preaching in the ^cwilderness of Judea, saying,

²“^aRepent, for ^bthe kingdom of heaven ¹is at hand.”

³For this is the ^aone referred to ¹by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

“^bThe voice of one ²crying in the wilderness,

‘^cMake ready the way of the Lord,

Make His paths straight!’ ”

⁴Now John himself had ^1aa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^blocusts and wild honey.

⁵Then Jerusalem ^awas going out to him, and all Judea and all ^bthe district around the Jordan;

⁶and they were being ^abaptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the ^aPharisees and ^bSadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You ^cbrood of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^dthe wrath to come?

⁸“^aTherefore bear fruit ^bin keeping with repentance;

⁹and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘^aWe have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

¹⁰“The ^aaxe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore ^bevery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, ^aI baptize you ¹with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^bHe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹²“His ^awinnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^bgather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^cchaff with ^dunquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^13aThen Jesus arrived ^bfrom Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹⁵But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^ato fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.

¹⁶After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^1ahe saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ²lighting on Him,

¹⁷and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “^aThis is ¹My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Chapter 4

The Temptation of Jesus

^1aThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^bto be tempted by the devil.

²And after He had ^afasted forty days and forty nights, He ¹then became hungry.

³And ^athe tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^bSon of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘^aMan shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵Then the devil took Him into ^athe holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

⁶and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘^aHe will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,

So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “¹On the other hand, it is written, ‘^aYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

^8aAgain, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

⁹and he said to Him, “^aAll these things I will give You, if You fall down and ¹worship me.”

¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘^aYou shall worship the Lord your God, and ¹serve Him only.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil left Him; and behold, ^aangels came and began to minister to Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when Jesus heard that ^aJohn had been taken into custody, ^bHe withdrew into Galilee;

¹³and leaving Nazareth, He came and ^asettled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

¹⁴This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁵“^aThe land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

¹By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the ²Gentiles—

¹⁶“^aThe people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,

And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,

Upon them a Light dawned.”

^17aFrom that time Jesus began to ¹preach and say, “^bRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The First Disciples

^18aNow as Jesus was walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, ^cSimon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁹And He said to them, “¹Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there He saw two other brothers, ^1aJames the son of Zebedee, and ²John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Ministry in Galilee

²³Jesus was going ^athroughout all Galilee, ^bteaching in their synagogues and ^cproclaiming the ¹gospel of the kingdom, and ^dhealing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

²⁴The news about Him spread ^athroughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, ^bdemoniacs, ^1cepileptics, ^dparalytics; and He healed them.

²⁵Large crowds ^afollowed Him from Galilee and ^bthe Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from ^cbeyond the Jordan.