Mar 1:1-8, Luk 3:1-9, 15-17, Joh 1:19-28 | ISV | STEP | The Gospel According to Mark John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:1-8

1 The Gospel According to MarkJohn the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-9, 15-17; John 1:19-28

This is ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks This is} the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ^{▼▼Other mss. lack the Son of God}Matt 14:33; Luke 1:35; John 1:34 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,Mal 3:1; Matt 11:10; Luke 7:27

“See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way. ^{▼▼Mal 3:1}

3 He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:Isa 40:3; Matt 3:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:15

‘Prepare the way for the Lord!

Make his paths straight!’” ^{▼▼Isa 40:3}

4 John was baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.Matt 3:1; Luke 3:3; John 3:23 5 People from ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks People from} the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, being baptized by him while they confessed their sins.Matt 3:5 6 Now John was dressed in camel's hair with ^{▼▼Lit. and} a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.Lev 11:22; Matt 3:4 7 He kept proclaiming, “The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to bend down and untie his sandal straps.Matt 3:11; John 1:27; Acts 13:25 8 I baptized you with ^{▼▼Or in} water, but it is he who will baptize you with ^{▼▼Or in} the Holy Spirit.”Isa 44:3; Joel 2:28; Acts 1:5; 2:4; 10:45; 11:15-16; 19:4; 1Cor 12:13

Luke 3:1-9

1 John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:19-28

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.John 11:49, 51; 18:13; Acts 4:6 3 John ^{▼▼Lit. He} went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,Matt 3:1; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,Isa 40:3; Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; John 1:23

“He is a voice calling out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!

5 Every valley will be filled,

and every mountain and hill will be leveled.

The crooked ways will be made straight,

and the rough roads will be made smooth.

6 Everyone ^{▼▼Lit. All flesh} will see the salvationPs 98:2; Isa 52:10; Luke 2:10

that God has provided.’” ^{▼▼Isa 40:3-5}

7 John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?Matt 3:7 8 Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! Don't begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our forefather.’ For I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! 9 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”Matt 7:19

Luke 3:15-17

15 Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Christ. ^{▼▼I.e. the Messiah} 16 John replied to all of them, “I am baptizing you with ^{▼▼Or in} water, but the one who is stronger than I am is coming, and I am not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with ^{▼▼Or in} the Holy Spirit and fire.Matt 3:11 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean up his threshing floor. He will gather the grain into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”Mic 4:12; Matt 13:30

John 1:19-28

19 The Testimony of John the Baptist Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:2-8; Luke 3:15-17This was John's testimony when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”John 5:33

20 He spoke openly and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ^{▼▼I.e. the Messiah}Luke 3:15; John 3:28; Acts 13:25

21 So they asked him, “Well then, are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5; Matt 17:10

22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 He replied,Isa 40:3; Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 3:28

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’” ^{▼▼Isa 40:3}

as the prophet Isaiah said.

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are not the Christ ^{▼▼I.e. the Messiah} or Elijah or the Prophet?”

26 John answered them, “I am baptizing with ^{▼▼Or in} water, but among you stands a man whom you do not know,Mal 3:1; Matt 3:11 27 the one who is coming after me, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie.”John 1:15, 30; Acts 19:4 28 This happened in Bethany ^{▼▼Other mss. read Bethabara} on the other side ^{▼▼I.e. the east side} of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.Judg 7:24; John 10:40