1Now in the fifteenthyear of the reign of TiberiusCaesar, when 1PontiusPilate was governor of Judea, and 2Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brotherPhilip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
2
in the highpriesthood of 3Annas and 4Caiaphas, 5the word of Godcame to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
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And he came into all6the districtaround the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins ;
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as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "7THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKEREADY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHSSTRAIGHT.
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'8EVERYRAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERYMOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE aBROUGHTLOW ; THE CROOKED WILL BECOMESTRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGHROADSSMOOTH ;
69AND ALLbFLESH WILL 10SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.' "
7So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "11You brood of vipers, whowarned you to flee from the wrath to come ?
8"Thereforebearfruits in keeping with repentance, and 12do not begin to saycto yourselves, '13We haveAbraham for our father,' for I say to you that from thesestonesGod is able to raise up children to Abraham.
9"Indeed the axe is alreadylaid at the root of the trees ; so14everytree that does not beargoodfruit is cutdown and thrown into the fire."
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And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "15Thenwhat shall we do ?"
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And he would answer and say to them, "The man who hastwotunics is to 16share with him who hasnone ; and he who hasfood is to dolikewise."
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And some 17taxcollectorsalsocame to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do ?"
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And he said to them, "dCollectnomorethan what you have been ordered to."
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Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do ?" And he said to them, "Do not takemoney from anyone by force, or18accuse anyone falsely, and 19be content with your wages."
15Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were ewondering in their heartsaboutJohn, 20as to whether he was fthe Christ,
1621Johnanswered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water ; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals ; He will baptize you gwith the HolySpirit and fire.
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"His 22winnowingfork is in His hand to thoroughlyclear His threshingfloor, and to gather the wheat into His barn ; but He will burn up the chaff with 23unquenchablefire."
18So with manyotherexhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
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But when 24Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of 25Herodias, his brother'swife, and because of all the wickedthingswhich26Herod had done,
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Herod alsoaddedthis to them all : 27he lockedJohn up in prison.
2128Nowwhenall the people were baptized, Jesus was alsobaptized, and while He was 29praying, heaven was opened,
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and the HolySpiritdescended upon Him in bodilyformlike a dove, and a voicecame out of heaven, "30You are My belovedSon, in You I amwell-pleased."
2331When He began His ministry, JesusHimself was aboutthirtyyears of age, being, has was supposed, the son of 32Joseph, ithe son of jEli,
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the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
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the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of kHesli, the son of Naggai,
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the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
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the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, 33the son of Zerubbabel, the son of lShealtiel, the son of Neri,
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the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
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the son of mJoshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
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the son of Simeon, the son of nJudah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
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the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
3234the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of oSalmon, the son of pNahshon,
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the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of qRam, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
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the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, 35the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
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the son of Serug, the son of rReu, the son of Peleg, the son of sHeber, the son of Shelah,
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the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, 36the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
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the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
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the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
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