Mat 3-4 | 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.”

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

1 ^anThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^aoto be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting ^apforty days and forty nights, he ^aqwas hungry. 3 And ^arthe tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^asthe Son of God, command ^atthese stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, ^au“It is written,

^av“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 ^awThen the devil took him to ^axthe holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

^ay“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again ^azit is written, ^ba‘You shall not ^bbput the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 ^bcAgain, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ^bdSatan! For ^beit is written,

^bf“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and ^bghim only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, ^bhangels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

12 Now when he heard that ^biJohn had been arrested, ^bjhe withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving ^bkNazareth he went and lived in ^blCapernaum by ^bmthe sea, in the territory of ^bnZebulun and Naphtali, 14 ^boso that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 ^bp“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 ^bqthe people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and ^brshadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 ^bsFrom that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^bt“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 ^buWhile walking by ^bvthe Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^bwfishers of men.” ^{▼▼The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women} 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 ^byAnd he went throughout all Galilee, ^bzteaching in their synagogues and ^caproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^cbhealing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all ^ccSyria, and ^cdthey brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ^cepains, ^cfthose oppressed by demons, ^cgthose having seizures, and ^chparalytics, and he healed them. 25 ^ciAnd great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ^cjDecapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.