Mat 3, Mar 1:1, 3-8, Luk 3:1-18, Joh 1:28-51, Act 13:24-25 | ESV | STEP | In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea ,

1 ^aIn those days ^bJohn the Baptist came preaching in ^cthe wilderness of Judea, 2 ^d“Repent, for ^ethe kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

^f“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^g‘Prepare ^{▼▼Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness} the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
4 Now John wore ⁱa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^jlocusts and ^kwild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^lconfessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of ^mthe Pharisees and ⁿSadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^o“You brood of ^pvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^qthe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit ^rin keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ^s‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from ^tthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^uEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 ^v“I baptize you with water ^wfor repentance, but ^xhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ^ywith the Holy Spirit and ^zfire. 12 His ^aawinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and ^abgather his wheat into the barn, ^acbut the chaff he will burn with ^adunquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

13 ^aeThen Jesus came ^affrom Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 ^agJohn would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, ^ahthe heavens were opened to him, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit to him} and he ^ajsaw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, ^aka voice from heaven said, ^al“This is my beloved Son, ^{▼▼Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved} with whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:1

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^anthe Son of God. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit the Son of God}

Mark 1:3-8

3 ^apthe voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^aq‘Prepare ^{▼▼Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness} the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
4 ^asJohn appeared, baptizing in ^atthe wilderness and proclaiming ^aua baptism of ^avrepentance ^awfor the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^axconfessing their sins. 6 Now John was ^ayclothed with camel’s hair and ^azwore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^balocusts and ^bbwild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, ^bc“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 ^bdI have baptized you with water, but ^behe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Luke 3:1-18

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^bfTiberius Caesar, ^bgPontius Pilate ^bhbeing governor of Judea, and ^biHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during ^bjthe high priesthood of Annas and ^bkCaiaphas, ^blthe word of God came to ^bmJohn the son of Zechariah in ^bnthe wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^boa baptism of repentance ^bpfor the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in ^bqthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^br“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^bs‘Prepare the way of the Lord, ^{▼▼Or crying, Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord}
make his paths straight.
5 ^buEvery valley shall be filled,
^bvand every mountain and hill shall be made low,
^bwand the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 ^bxand all flesh shall see ^bythe salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^bz“You brood of ^cavipers! Who warned you to flee from ^cbthe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits ^ccin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^cd‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^cethese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^cfEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, ^cg“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, ^ch“Whoever has two tunics ^{▼▼Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin} is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 ^cjTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^ckwhat shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^cl“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^cmwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^cn“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^cowages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^cpwhether he might be ^cqthe Christ, 16 ^crJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^cshe who is mightier than I is coming, ^ctthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^cuwith the Holy Spirit and ^cvfire. 17 His ^cwwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^cxgather the wheat into his barn, ^cybut the chaff he will burn with ^czunquenchable fire.”

18 So ^dawith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.

John 1:28-51

28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^dbthe Lamb of God, who ^dctakes away the sin ^ddof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ^de‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but ^dffor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John ^dgbore witness: ^dh“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^diit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but ^djhe who sent me to baptize ^dkwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^dlthis is he who baptizes ^dmwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^dnthe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^do“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^dp“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. ^{▼▼That is, about 4 p.m.} 40 ^drOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus ^{▼▼Greek him} was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^dtthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^duJohn. You shall be called ^dvCephas” (which means ^dwPeter ^{▼▼ Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively}).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 ^dyThe next day Jesus decided ^dzto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now ^eaPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found ^ebNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^ecMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^edof Nazareth, ^eethe son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, ^ef“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^egan Israelite indeed, ^ehin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ^eido you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, ^ej“Rabbi, ^ekyou are the Son of God! You are the ^elKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^{▼▼The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse} you will see ^enheaven opened, and ^eothe angels of God ascending and descending on ^epthe Son of Man.”

Acts 13:24-25

24 Before his coming, ^eqJohn had proclaimed ^era baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, ^eshe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’