Matthew 3–4

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3:1–12pp—Mk 1:3–8; Lk 3:2–17

3In those days John the Baptist^z came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^a has come near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ ”^ab

⁴John’s^c clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.^d His food was locusts^e and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized^f by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!^g Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{h 8}Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.^{i 9}And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^j I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^k

¹¹“I baptize you with^b water for repentance.^l But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^c the Holy Spirit^m and fire.^{n 12}His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”^o

The Baptism of Jesus

3:13–17pp—Mk 1:9–11; Lk 3:21,22; Jn 1:31–34

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.^{p 14}But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,^q and he saw the Spirit of God^r descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven^s said, “This is my Son,^t whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”^u

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4:1–11pp—Mk 1:12,13; Lk 4:1–13

4Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^av by the devil.^{w 2}After fasting forty days and forty nights,^x he was hungry. ³The tempter^y came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God,^z tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^b”^a

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city^b and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶“If you are the Son of God,”^c he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,

and they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^c”^d

⁷Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^d”^e

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!^f For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^e”^g

¹¹Then the devil left him,^h and angels came and attended him.ⁱ

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison,^j he withdrew to Galilee.^{k 13}Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,^l which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—¹⁴to fulfill^m what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles—

¹⁶the people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death

a light has dawned.”^fn

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^o has come near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

4:18–22pp—Mk 1:16–20; Lk 5:2–11; Jn 1:35–42

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,^p he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter^q and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,”^r Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.^s

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.^t They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.^u

Jesus Heals the Sick

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee,^v teaching in their synagogues,^w proclaiming the good news^x of the kingdom,^y and healing every disease and sickness among the people.^{z 24}News about him spread all over Syria,^a and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed,^b those having seizures,^c and the paralyzed;^d and he healed them. ²⁵Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^g Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.^e