John the Baptist Prepares the Way

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of jTiberius Caesar, kPontius Pilate lbeing governor of Judea, and mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during nthe high priesthood of Annas and oCaiaphas, pthe word of God came to qJohn the son of Zechariah in rthe wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming sa baptism of repentance tfor the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

v“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

w‘Prepare the way of the Lord,1

make his paths straight.

⁵xEvery valley shall be filled,

yand every mountain and hill shall be made low,

zand the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

⁶aand all flesh shall see bthe salvation of God.’”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, c“You brood of dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ethe wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. iEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, j“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, k“Whoever has two tunics2 is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹²lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, jwhat shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your nwages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, owhether he might be pthe Christ, ¹⁶qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but rhe who is mightier than I is coming, sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you twith the Holy Spirit and ufire. ¹⁷His vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to wgather the wheat into his barn, xbut the chaff he will burn with yunquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹But aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰added this to them all, that bhe locked up John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, dthe heavens were opened, ²²and ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and fa voice came from heaven, g“You are my beloved Son;3 with you I am well pleased.”4

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³Jesus, hwhen he began his ministry, was about ithirty years of age, being jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son lof Shealtiel,5 the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of mNathan, the son of David, ³²nthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴othe son of Jacob, pthe son of Isaac, qthe son of Abraham, rthe son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.