Chapter 3

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod governor of Galilee, while his brother Philip was governor of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was the governor of Abilene, ²in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, a message from God came to Zechariah’s son John in the desert. ³And he went all through the Jordan Valley preaching repentance and baptism in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as the book of the sermons of the prophet Isaiah says,

“Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert,

Get the Lord’s way ready!

Make his paths straight.

⁵Every hollow must be filled up,

And every mountain and hill leveled.

What is crooked is to be made straight,

And the rough roads are to be made smooth,

⁶And all mankind is to see how God can save!”

⁷So he would say to the crowds that came out there to be baptized by him,

“You brood of snakes! Who warned you to fly from the wrath that is coming? ⁸Then produce fruit that will be consistent with your professed repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our forefather,’ for I tell you, God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones! ⁹But the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰The crowds would ask him,

“Then what ought we to do?”

¹¹And he answered,

“The man who has two shirts must share with the man who has none, and the man who has food must do the same.”

¹²Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him,

“Master, what ought we to do?”

¹³He said to them,

“Do not collect any more than you are authorized to.”

¹⁴And soldiers would ask him,

“And what ought we to do?”

He said to them,

“Do not extort money or make false charges against people, but be satisfied with your pay.”

¹⁵As all this aroused people’s expectations, and they were all wondering in their hearts whether John was the Christ, ¹⁶John said to them all,

“I am only baptizing you in water, but someone is coming who is stronger than I am, whose shoes I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the holy Spirit and in fire. ¹⁷He has his winnowing fork in his hand, to clean up his threshing-floor, and store his wheat in his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”

¹⁸So with many varied exhortations he would preach the good news to the people, ¹⁹but Herod the governor, whom he condemned because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the wicked things Herod had done, ²⁰crowned them all by putting John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also after his baptism was praying, heaven opened ²²and the holy Spirit came down upon him in the material shape of a dove, and there came a voice from heaven,

“You are my Son, my Beloved! You are my Chosen!”

²³Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son, it was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Eli, 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 Johanan, the son of Resa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, 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 Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Symeon, 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 Nathan, the son of David, ³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Ragau, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, 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 Maleleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.