The Mission of John the Baptist
(Isaiah 40:1–5; Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; John 1:19–28)

1And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip being tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and of Trachonitis, and Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,† the word of God came upon John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.†

3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance unto forgiveness of sins, 4as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one crying in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make straight His paths.

5Every valley will be filled,

and every mountain and hill will be made low;

and the crooked will become into straight,

and the rough ways into smooth.

6And all flesh will see the salvation of God.Ӡ

7Then he was saying to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “Offspring of vipers, who warned you⁺ to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance. And do not begin to say in yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you⁺ that out of these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9And already also the ax is laid to the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and is thrown into fire.”

10And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “What then shall we do?”

11And answering, he was saying to them, “The one having two tunics, let him impart to the one having none; and the one having food, let him do likewise.”

12And tax collectors also came to be baptized,† and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

13And he said to them, “Exact nothing more beyond that having been appointed to you⁺.”

14And those being soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Extort no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your⁺ wages.”

15And in the people's expecting, and all reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16John answered to all, saying, “I indeed baptize you⁺ in water,† but the One mightier than I comes, of whom I am not sufficient to loose the strap of His sandals.† He will baptize you⁺ in the Holy Spirit and fire,† 17whose winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly cleanse His† threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

18Therefore indeed, exhorting many other things, he was proclaiming good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias the wife of his brother,† and concerning all the evils that Herod did, 20added this also to all: He also locked up John in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus
(Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; John 1:29–34)

21Now it came to pass, in all the people having been baptized, and Jesus having been baptized and praying, that the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in a bodily form as a dove. And a voice came out of heaven:† “You are My Son, the Beloved; in You I was well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus
(Ruth 4:18–22; Matthew 1:1–17)

23And Jesus, beginning, was Himself about thirty years old,

being son, as was supposed, of Joseph,

of Heli,†

24of Matthat,† of Levi, of Melchi,

of Jannai,† of Joseph,

25of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum,

of Esli,† of Naggai,

26of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semein,†

of Josech, of Joda,†

27of Joannen,† of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel,

of Shealtiel, of Neri,

28of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam,

of Elmadam,† of Er,

29of Joshua,† of Eliezer, of Jorim,

of Matthat, of Levi,

30of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph,

of Jonam,† of Eliakim,

31of Melea, of Menna,† of Mattatha,

of Nathan, of David,

32of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz,

of Sala,† of Nahshon,

33of Amminadab, of Admin,† of Arni,†

of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah,

34of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham,

of Terah, of Nahor,

35of Serug, of Reu, of Peleg,

of Eber, of Shelah,

36of Cainan, of Arphaxad, of Shem,

of Noah, of Lamech,

37of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Jared,

of Mahalalel, of Cainan,

38of Enosh,† of Seth, of Adam,

of God.

Footnotes:

2 TR Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests
2 Or desert; also in verse 4
6 Isaiah 40:3–5 (see also LXX)
12 F35 baptized by him
16 Or with water
16 Cited in Acts 13:25
16 Or with the Holy Spirit and with fire
17 BYZ and TR hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse
19 TR of his brother Philip
22 BYZ and TR include saying
23 NA, F35, SBL, Stephanus TR, TH Eli
24 F35 and GOC Matthan; NA and SBL Maththat
24 BYZ and TR Janna; GOC Joanna
25 GOC Eslim
26 BYZ and TR Semei; TH and WH Semeein; ALT and HF Semeei; GOC Semeu
26 BYZ and TR Joda
27 BYZ Joannan; ALT and TR Joanna
28 BYZ and TR Elmodam
29 BYZ and TR Jose
30 RP and TR Jonan; GOC Jona
31 BYZ Mainan; Scrivener TR Menam
32 BYZ and TR Salmon; see Ruth 4:20–21 and Matthew 1:4–5.
33 BYZ and TR Aram; others Ram; see Ruth 4:19 and Matthew 1:3–4.
33 WH, BYZ, and TR do not include of Arni.
38 Greek Enōs, a variant spelling of Enosh; see Genesis 5:6.