Luke 3:2–10

²¹while ^bAnnas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to ^cJohn the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ^3dAnd he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^efor the remission of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

^f“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make His paths straight.

⁵Every valley shall be filled

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

⁶And ^gall flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

⁷Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ^h“Brood ²of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Therefore bear fruits ⁱworthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore ^jevery tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰So the people asked him, saying, ^k“What shall we do then?”