Matthew 3

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.”