Matthew 3:1–12

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3In those days John the Baptist came and preached in the Desert of Judea. ²He said, “Turn away from your sins! The kingdom of heaven is near.”

³John is the one the prophet Isaiah had spoken about. He had said,

“A messenger is calling out in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord.

Make straight paths for him.’ ”

⁴John’s clothes were made out of camel’s hair. He had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all of Judea. They also came from the whole area around the Jordan River. ⁶When they admitted they had sinned, John baptized them in the Jordan.

⁷John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing. He said to them, “You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger? ⁸Produce fruit that shows you have turned away from your sins. ⁹Don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. ¹⁰The ax is already lying at the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with water, calling you to turn away from your sins. But after me, one will come who is more powerful than I am. And I’m not fit to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His pitchfork is in his hand to clear the straw from his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the storeroom. But he will burn up the husks with fire that can’t be put out.”