MatthewChapter 3

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¹In those days John the Baptist came. He preached in the wilderness of Judea. ²He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." ³John is the one the prophet Isaiah spoke about. He said, "A voice is calling out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him.'" ⁴John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all of Judea. They came from the whole area around the Jordan. ⁶They confessed their sins, and John baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁷But John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing. He said to them, "You family of snakes! Who warned you to run from the anger that is coming? ⁸Then show by the fruit of your lives that you have repented. ⁹Don't think you can say to yourselves, 'Abraham is our father.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham out of these stones. ¹⁰The axe is ready at the roots of the trees. Every tree that does not make good fruit will be cut down. It will be thrown into the fire. ¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance. But someone more powerful than I am will come after me. I am not even worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn. But he will burn up the chaff with a fire that never goes out."a ¹³At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan. He came to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to stop him. He said, "I need to be baptized by you. So why do you come to me?" ¹⁵Jesus answered, "Let it be this way for now. It is right for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John agreed. ¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. All at once the heavens opened. He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am very pleased with him!"