In those days, John the Immerser went into the desert of Judea preaching [to Jews], saying,

For this is the man who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, who said, [Isa. 40:3], "[It is] the voice of a man who speaks out in the desert, [urging people to] make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on]."

[People from] Jerusalem and all over Judea and the region around the Jordan River all went out [to the desert] to [hear] him,

Then Jesus was led up to the desert by the Holy Spirit in order to be put to the test by the devil.

As the messengers [sent by John. See Luke 7:27] went on their way, Jesus began to talk to the crowds about John. [He said], "What did you expect to see when you went out into the desert? A tall stem swaying in the wind?

Why did you go out [to the desert]? To see a prophet? Yes, I should say [he was], and much more than a prophet.

But when an evil spirit has been driven out of a person, it roams through desert regions trying to find rest but cannot find it.

Therefore, if people say to you, 'Look, he [i.e., Christ. See verse 23] is in the desert,' do not go out there. [Or if they say], 'Look, he is in an inside room,' do not believe him.

He will be the voice of a man shouting out in the desert, [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [to travel on]; to make a straight pathway for him."

John [the Immerser] came immersing people in the desert and proclaiming that those immersed on the basis of their repentance would receive the forgiveness of sins [from God].

And people from throughout all the regions of Judea and all of Jerusalem went out to John [in the desert]. And he immersed them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Then right after that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.

He spent forty days in this desert where He was put to the test by Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels ministered to His needs [while there].

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.

[During this time], while Annas and Caiaphas [Note: This man was Annas' son-in-law. See John 18:13] were head priests, God's message came to John [the Immerser], son of Zacharias, [when he was] in the desert [of Judea].

This was according to what is written in the book containing the words of Isaiah, the prophet [Isa. 40:3ff], "The voice of a man who speaks out in the desert [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on].

He said to the crowds of people that went out [to the desert] to be immersed by him, "You children of snakes, who warned you to run away from the coming wrath [of God]?

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River [i.e., where He had been immersed. See 3:21] and was led by the Holy Spirit [See Matt. 4:1] into the desert.

And when the messengers sent by John left, Jesus began saying to the crowds about John, "What did you expect to see when you went out into the desert? A tall stem swaying in the wind?

For Jesus was commanding the evil spirits to be driven out of the man, because they had been controlling him for a long time. The man was continually being guarded and his hands and feet were bound with chains. [Sometimes] he broke loose from the chains and was driven into the desert by the evil spirits.

"When an evil spirit has been driven out of a man, it roams through desert regions trying to find rest, but [when it] cannot find any, it says [to itself], 'I will return to my house from which I came [i.e., the body of the person it dominated].'

He replied, "I am the voice of a man who is calling out in the desert, [urging people to] 'Make the road for the Lord straight,' as Isaiah the prophet said, [Isa. 40:3]."

Our forefathers ate the [supernatural] 'manna' in the desert, as it is written [Neh. 9:15], 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Your forefathers ate the 'manna' in the desert and died.

Now it was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles [Note: This was also called "Festival of Shelters," and was one of three principal, annual Jewish festivals and commemorated the occasion of the Israelites living in tents or shelters during their forty year wandering in the desert].

So, Jesus stopped traveling publicly among the Jews [in Judea], but left there and went to a district near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, where He remained with His disciples. [Note: Ephraim was a small town about

For I want you to be [fully] aware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and all of them passed [safely] through the [Red] Sea. [Note: This refers to God guiding the Israelites through the desert during the daytime by a cloud moving along above them . See Ex. 13:21-22].

However, God was not pleased with the vast majority of them, for their bodies were scattered over the desert [See Num. 14:29ff].

I have been on frequent journeys; in danger from rivers; in danger from thieves; in danger from my own people; in danger from the Gentiles; in danger in the city; in danger in the desert; in danger in the ocean; in danger among false brothers.

do not have a stubborn heart like you did when you provoked [God] during the time you tested [His patience] in the desert,

And who was God angry with for forty years? Was it not with those people who sinned, whose bodies fell [dead] in the desert?

By [having] faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the king's anger, for he endured [all the rigors of wandering in the desert] because he could see the invisible God.

Keep your lives free from the love of money [and be] content with what you have, because God [Himself] has said [Deut. 31:6], "By no means will I [ever] desert you or give up on you."

Then the woman ran away to the desert, to a place prepared for her by God, where they could care for her for 1,260 days. [Note: The plural "they" here simply means "she would be cared for" See 10:11].

And the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so she could fly to her place in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, and times and half a time, from the presence of the snake [i.e., for three and one half years. See 11:2; 12:6].

Then, under the power of the Holy Spirit, the angel transported me to a desert, and [there] I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. It was covered with names that cursed God and it had seven heads and ten horns.