Matthew 3:1-12 - John The Baptist Begins His Ministry

¹ Now in those days came John the baptist preaching in the desert part of Judea, ² and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand: ³ for this is He who was spoken of by Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the desert, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

⁴ And this John had his clothes of camels hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then went, out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the pharisees and sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits becoming: penitents: and do not say within your selves, ⁹ "We have Abraham for our father:" for I tell you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ And now the ax is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore, which yieldeth not good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry: He shall baptize you with the holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² Whose fan is in his hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and gather the wheat into his granary, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

¹ The beginning of the gospel of JESUS CHRIST the Son of GOD. ² As it is written in the prophets, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee:" ³ and again, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight:" accordingly John came baptizing in the wilderness,

⁴ and preaching the baptism of repentance in order to the remission of sins; ⁵ and all the country of Judea, and those of Jerusalem, went out to him, and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ And John was clothed with camels hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and he lived upon locusts and wild honey: and he preached, ⁷ saying, There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop and unloose. ⁸ I indeed have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the holy Spirit.

¹ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, ² and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came unto John the Son of Zacharias in the wilderness: ³ and he went into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance in order to the remission of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of Esaias the prophet, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight: ⁵ every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth: ⁶ and all men shall see the salvation of God."

⁷ Therefore said he to the multitudes that came to be baptised by him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bring forth therefore fruits becoming penitents, and do not say within yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," for I tell you that God can of these stones raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ And now the ax is laid to the root of the trees: every tree therefore which doth not yield good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire.

¹⁰ And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

¹¹ And he saith unto them, Let him that hath two coats, give one to him that hath none, and let him that hath food do the like.

¹² And there came publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?

¹³ And He said unto them, Exact no more than what is appointed you.

¹⁴ And the soldiers also asked him, saying, And what shall we do? and He said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your pay.

¹⁵ Now as the people were in suspense, and were all thinking in their hearts concerning John, whether he were the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered and said to them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but a mightier than I is coming, whose shoes I am not worthy to untie: He will baptize you with the holy Spirit, and with fire; ¹⁷ whose fan is in his hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather the wheat into his granary, but will burn up the chaff in unquenchable fire. ¹⁸ And many other things by way of exhortation did he preach unto the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the wicked things which Herod did, ²⁰ added this likewise to all the rest, that he shut up John in prison.