But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will not drink any wine or intoxicating drinks [Note: This restriction suggests that John may have taken the special vow of consecration making him a "Nazarite"]. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born.

So, Mary stayed with [her relative] Elizabeth for about three months [i.e., until about the time John was born. See 1:26-31], and then returned to her home.

But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.

And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.

Yes, you [my] child [i.e., John], will be called the prophet of the Highest [i.e., God], for you will go ahead of the Lord's presence to prepare His ways.

So, the child [i.e., John] grew and became strong in [his] spirit and stayed in the desert until the day when he appeared publicly to the Israelites.

When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

And John went through the whole district of the Jordan, proclaiming baptism upon repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.

And John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

"Let the man who has two coats," answered John, "share with him who has none; and the man who has food do the same."

Even tax-gatherers came to be baptized, and said to John: "Teacher, what are we to do?"

"Do not collect more than you have authority to demand," John answered.

And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

And so with many different exhortations John told his Good News to the people.

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.

Now it came to pass, at the time when John was baptising all the people, that Jesus also was baptised, and as he prayed, the heaven was opened,

the son of John, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

So, He left the synagogue and entered Simon's [i.e., Peter's] house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was [in bed] stricken with a high fever. And they [i.e., Andrew, James and John, besides Peter. See Mark 1:29] begged Him [to do something] for her.

And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

I came not to call saints, but sinners to repentance. Then they ask'd him, how comes it that John's disciples,

And they said unto Him, Why do the disciples of John frequently fast and pray, and likewise those of the pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

(to wit, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas,

And the disciples of John told him of all these things: so John called two of his disciples to him,

And John calling two certain persons of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or are we to expect another?

And the men came to Him, and said, John the baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them,

When the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see?

John is the man about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending My messenger before thy face, and he shall make ready thy way before thee.'

for I tell you that among the sons of men there is not a greater prophet than John the baptist: (though the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he:)

---and all the people that heard him, even the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John;

But the Pharisees and the Students of the Law, having rejected John's baptism, frustrated God's purpose in regard to them.)

for John the baptist came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and ye say, he hath a demon:

And when He came to the house, He suffered none to go in but Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the child.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things that were done by Him; and was perplexed, because it was said by some that John was risen from the dead;

because it was said by some, That John was risen from the dead; and by some that Elijah had appeared; by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.

And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? and he wanted to see Him.

But He said to the apostles, "You men give them something to eat." But they replied, "We have only five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish, unless we go and buy [more] food for all these people."

They answering said, John the baptist: but others say Elias: and others, that some ancient prophet is risen again.

About eight days after these discourses, He took Peter, and John, and James, and went up to a mountain to pray.

Now Peter and those with him [i.e., James and John] had been very sleepy, but became wide awake when they saw the splendor of Jesus and the two men standing with Him.

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followeth not thee with us.

"None of you must prevent him," Jesus said to John; "he who is not against you is for you."

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, as Elias did?

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village [i.e., Bethany. See John 11:1], and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

But that person who disowns me in front of people [i.e., denies that I am the Christ, or that he is a disciple. See John 18:15-17, 25-27], will be disowned in front of God's angels.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

And he answering said, I will also ask you one thing and tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or of men?

The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?

But if we say, Of men; we will be stoned by the people, for they are certain that John was a prophet.

for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.

So He sent Peter and John, saying to them, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover meal."

So Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Then a certain one of them struck the head priest's slave and sheared off his right ear. [Note: It was Peter who struck this man, whose name was Malchus. See John 18:10].

Then Jesus called out, "Father, forgive these people [i.e., the ones responsible for crucifying Him], for they do not know [i.e., realize] what they are doing." Then the soldiers [See John 19:23] divided Jesus' clothing among them by gambling for them.

Then some of our companions [i.e., Peter and John. See John 20:2-9] went to the grave site and found things just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus [either]."

And look, I [am going to] send upon you apostles what my Father promised [i.e., the Holy Spirit. See John 14:26]; but you should wait in the city [of Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from above." [Note: This promise was fulfilled when the apostles were immersed in the Holy Spirit. See Acts 1:4 - 2:4].