And the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

But his mother said, "No! He is to be named John."

He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John."

in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, a message from God came to Zechariah's son John in the desert.

As all this aroused people's expectations, and they were all wondering in their hearts whether John was the Christ,

John said to them all, "I am only baptizing you in water, but someone is coming who is stronger than I am, whose shoes I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the holy Spirit and in fire.

crowned them all by putting John in prison.

and so were Zebedee's sons, James and John, who were Simon's partners. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you are to catch men!"

They said to him, "John's disciples observe frequent fasts and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but your disciples eat and drink."

Simon, whom he named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

John's disciples told him of all this,

And the men went to him and said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?' "

And he answered them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind are regaining their sight, the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.

When John's messengers were gone, he began to speak to the crowds about John. "What was it that you went out into the desert to look at? A reed swaying in the wind?

"I tell you, among men born of women there is none greater than John; and yet those who are of little importance in the Kingdom of God are greater than he.

And all the people, even the tax-collectors, when they heard him, acknowledged the justice of God's demands, by accepting baptism from John,

"For when John the Baptist came, he did not eat any bread or drink any wine, and you said, 'He has a demon!'

When he got to the house, he let no one go in with him but Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother.

Herod the governor heard of all that was happening, and he was perplexed because some people said that John had risen from the dead,

But Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who can this be about whom I hear such reports?" And he endeavored to see him.

They answered, "John the Baptist, though others say Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets has come back to life."

It was about eight days after Jesus said this that he took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

John answered, "Master, we saw a man driving out demons with your name, and we told him not to do so, for he does not go with us."

When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Master, will you have us order fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

Once as he was praying in a certain place, when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

Until John came, it was the Law and the Prophets. From that time the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone has been crowding into it.

Tell me, did John's baptism come from heaven or from men?"

But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet."

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