^3:1In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness¹ of Judea proclaiming, ^3:2“Repent,² for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ^3:3For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken:³

“The voice⁴ of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make⁵ his paths straight.’ ”⁶

^3:4Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.⁷ ^3:5Then people from Jerusalem,⁸ as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, ^3:6and he was baptizing them⁹ in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

^3:7But when he saw many Pharisees¹⁰ and Sadducees¹¹ coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ^3:8Therefore produce fruit¹² that proves your¹³ repentance, ^3:9and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ^3:10Even now the ax is laid at¹⁴ the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

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Footnotes

1 Or “desert.”
2 Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’ ” The participle λέγων (legōn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.
3 Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.
4 Or “A voice.”
5 This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.
6 A quotation from Isa 40:3.
7 John’s lifestyle was in stark contrast to many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who lived in relative ease and luxury. While his clothing and diet were indicative of someone who lived in the desert, they also depicted him in his role as God’s prophet (cf. Zech 13:4); his appearance is similar to the Prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Locusts and wild honey were a common diet in desert regions, and locusts (dried insects) are listed in Lev 11:22 among the “clean” foods.
8 Grk “Then Jerusalem.” For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
9 Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.
10 Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
11 The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164–166]; 13.5.9 [13.171–173], 13.10.6 [13.293–298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16–17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; 2 [10–11]). See also Matt 16:1–12; 22:23–34; Mark 12:18–27; Luke 20:27–38; Acts 5:17; 23:6–8.
12 Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.
13 Grk “fruit worthy of.”
14 Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.