Matthew 3:1-6

The Messiah's Herald

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea

2 and saying, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!"

3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!" ^[a]

4 John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

5 Then [people from] Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him,

6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.