“The voice ³  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ⁴  his paths straight.’” ⁵ 

3:4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. ⁶  3:5 Then people from Jerusalem, ⁷  as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 3:6 and he was baptizing them ⁸  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ⁹  and Sadducees ¹⁰  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce fruit ¹¹  that proves your ¹²  repentance, 3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ¹³  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ¹⁴  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁵  3:12 His winnowing fork ¹⁶  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ¹⁷  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ¹⁸ 

3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. ¹⁹  3:14 But John ²⁰  tried to prevent ²¹  him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 3:15 So Jesus replied ²²  to him, “Let it happen now, ²³  for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John ²⁴  yielded ²⁵  to him.