Mat 3, Mar 1:1-11, 9:13, Luk 3:1-20, Joh 1:6-8, 15-36, 3:25-36 | 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 1:1-11

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}

2 ^apAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts in the prophets}

^ar“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 ^asthe voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^at‘Prepare ^{▼▼Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness} the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
4 ^avJohn appeared, baptizing in ^awthe wilderness and proclaiming ^axa baptism of ^ayrepentance ^azfor 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, ^baconfessing their sins. 6 Now John was ^bbclothed with camel’s hair and ^bcwore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^bdlocusts and ^bewild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, ^bf“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 ^bgI have baptized you with water, but ^bhhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

9 ^biIn those days Jesus ^bjcame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he ^bksaw ^blthe heavens being torn open ^bmand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And ^bna voice came from heaven, ^bo“You are my beloved Son; ^{▼▼Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved} with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 9:13

13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and ^bqthey did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

Luke 3:1-20

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^brTiberius Caesar, ^bsPontius Pilate ^btbeing governor of Judea, and ^buHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during ^bvthe high priesthood of Annas and ^bwCaiaphas, ^bxthe word of God came to ^byJohn the son of Zechariah in ^bzthe wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^caa baptism of repentance ^cbfor the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in ^ccthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

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

10 And the crowds asked him, ^cs“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, ^ct“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 ^cvTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^cwwhat shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^cx“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^cywhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^cz“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^dawages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^dbwhether he might be ^dcthe Christ, 16 ^ddJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^dehe who is mightier than I is coming, ^dfthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^dgwith the Holy Spirit and ^dhfire. 17 His ^diwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^djgather the wheat into his barn, ^dkbut the chaff he will burn with ^dlunquenchable fire.”

18 So ^dmwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But ^dnHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that ^dohe locked up John in prison.

John 1:6-8

6 There was a man ^dpsent from God, whose name was ^dqJohn. 7 He came as a ^drwitness, to bear witness about the light, ^dsthat all might believe through him. 8 ^dtHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John 1:15-36

15 ( ^duJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ^dv‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from ^dwhis fullness we have all received, ^dxgrace upon grace. ^{▼▼Or grace in place of grace} 17 For ^dzthe law was given through Moses; ^eagrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 ^ebNo one has ever seen God; ^ecthe only God, ^{▼▼Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son} who is at the Father’s side, ^{▼▼Greek in the bosom of the Father} ^efhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the ^egtestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^eh“Who are you?” 20 ^eiHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? ^ejAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^ekthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am ^elthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight ^{▼▼Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight} the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, ^en“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, ^eo“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even ^ephe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 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, ^eqthe Lamb of God, who ^ertakes away the sin ^esof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ^et‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but ^eufor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John ^evbore witness: ^ew“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^exit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but ^eyhe who sent me to baptize ^ezwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^fathis is he who baptizes ^fbwith 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, ^fcthe Lamb of God!”

John 3:25-36

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over ^fdpurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, ^fe“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^ffto whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^fgall are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^fh“A person cannot receive even one thing ^fiunless it is given him ^fjfrom heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^fk‘I am not the Christ, but ^flI have been sent before him.’ 29 ^fmThe one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^fnThe friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^forejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^fpHe must increase, but I must decrease.” ^{▼▼Some interpreters hold that the quotation continues through verse 36}

31 ^frHe who comes from above ^fsis above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^ftspeaks in an earthly way. ^fuHe who comes from heaven ^fvis above all. 32 ^fwHe bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^fxyet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony ^fysets his seal to this, ^fzthat God is true. 34 For he whom ^gaGod has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^gbwithout measure. 35 ^gcThe Father loves the Son and ^gdhas given all things into his hand. 36 ^geWhoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^gfwhoever does not obey the Son shall not ^ggsee life, but the wrath of God remains on him.