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

But his mother replied, "No! He must be named John."

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all amazed.

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

John answered them, "The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise."

While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whether perhaps John could be the Christ,

John answered them all, "I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming -- I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And in this way, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed good news to the people.

But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds that he had done,

Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.

and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's business partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

Then they said to him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink."

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

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

When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?'"

So he answered them, "Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

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

I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is."

(Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.

However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

Now when he came to the house, Jesus did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening, and he was thoroughly perplexed, because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead,

Herod said, "I had John beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" So Herod wanted to learn about Jesus.

They answered, "John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen."

Now about eight days after these sayings, Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray.

John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not a disciple along with us."

Now when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

"The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.

John's baptism -- was it from heaven or from people?"

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

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