But the angel told him, "Stop being afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

but his mother said, "Absolutely not! He must be named John."

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And everyone was amazed.

and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

John went throughout the entire Jordan region, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, "You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah.

John replied to all of them, "I'm baptizing you with water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, and I'm not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

With many other exhortations John continued to proclaim the good news to the people.

Now Herod the tetrarch had been rebuked by John because he had married his brother's wife Herodias and because of all of the other evil things Herod had done.

Added to all this, Herod locked John up in prison.

and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons and Simon's partners.

Then they told him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."

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

John's disciples told him about all these things. So John called two of his disciples

When the men had come to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, "Are you the Coming One, or should we wait for someone else?'"

So he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have observed and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear again, the dead are raised, and the destitute hear the good news.

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to ask the crowds about John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

I tell you, no one has ever been born who is greater than John. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

By having been baptized with John's baptism, all the people who listened, including the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice.

But the Pharisees and the experts in the Law rejected God's plan for themselves by refusing to be baptized by John.

Because John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, yet you say, "He has a demon!'

When he arrived at the man's house, he allowed no one to go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the young girl's father and mother.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening. He was puzzled because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

Herod said, "I beheaded John. But who is this man I'm hearing so much about?" So Herod kept trying to see Jesus.

They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the ancient prophets who has come back to life."

Now about eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up on a mountain to pray.

John said, "Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he wasn't a follower like us."

When his disciples James and John observed this rejection, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

"The Law and the Prophets remained until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack.

Was John's authority to baptize from heaven or from humans?"

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

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