Luk 3:2-17 | NASB1995 | STEP | in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas , the word of God came to John , the son of Zacharias , in the wilderness .

2 in the high priesthood of ^aAnnas and ^bCaiaphas, ^cthe word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all ^dthe district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, ^e“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 ‘ ^f Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be ^{▼▼ Or leveled} brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
6 ^h And all ^{▼▼ Or mankind} flesh will ^j see the salvation of God.’”

7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, ^k“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and ^ldo not begin to say ^{▼▼ Or in}to yourselves, ‘ ⁿWe have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so ^oevery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, ^p“Then what shall we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to ^qshare with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 12 And some ^rtax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^{▼▼ Or Exact}“Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or ^taccuse anyone falsely, and ^ube content with your wages.”

15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were ^{▼▼ Or reasoning or debating}wondering in their hearts about John, ^was to whether he was ^{▼▼ I.e. the Messiah}the Christ, 16 ^yJohn answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you ^{▼▼ The Gr here can be translated in, with or by}with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 “His ^aawinnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with ^abunquenchable fire.”