The Mission of John the Baptist

¹ Now in the 15^th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. ³ He went throughout the regions that surrounded the Jordan River, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet, Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make his paths straight.

⁵ Every valley will be filled.
Every mountain and hill will be brought low.
The crooked will become straight
and the rough ways smooth.
⁶ All mankind shall see the salvation of God.’ ” ^a

⁷ Then John said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to run from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of one who has repented and do not begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones! ⁹ Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ The people asked him, “What then must we do?”

¹¹ He answered them, “If you have two shirts, give one to someone who has none. If you have food, do the same.”

¹² Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?”

¹³ He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.”

¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?”
He said to them, “Do not extort money or falsely accuse anyone. Be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ With rising hope, the people began wondering if John was the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered all of them, “Yes, I do baptize you with water, but Someone is coming who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, ¹⁷ whose winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor and will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ Then along with many other urgent warnings, he preached the Gospel to the people, ¹⁹ but Herod the tetrarch, having been corrected by John for his adultery with Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, ²⁰ added this on top of everything else: he shut John up in prison.

²¹ Now while all the people were being baptized, Jesus had also been baptized and was praying. The heavens opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of the heavens, saying,

“You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

The Geneology of Jesus

²³ Jesus was about 30 years old when he began to teach.

He was the son, as it was supposed, of Joseph,
the son of Heli,²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,
²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,
²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,
³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

^{a Isaiah 40:3-5}

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