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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 In the fifteenth year of the rule of Caesar Tiberius - it was while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; Herod, ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, ruler of Abilene;
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1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene--
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2 during the Chief-Priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas - John, Zachariah's son, out in the desert at the time, received a message from God.
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2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.
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3 He went all through the country around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of life-change leading to forgiveness of sins,
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3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
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4 as described in the words of Isaiah the prophet: Thunder in the desert! "Prepare God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!
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4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
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5 Every ditch will be filled in, Every bump smoothed out, The detours straightened out, All the ruts paved over.
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5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
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6 Everyone will be there to see The parade of God's salvation."
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6 And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "
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7 When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God's judgment?
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7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
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8 It's your life that must change, not your skin. And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as 'father.' Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there - children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants.
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8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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9 What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire."
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9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
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10 The crowd asked him, "Then what are we supposed to do?"
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10 "What should we do then?" the crowd asked.
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11 "If you have two coats, give one away," he said. "Do the same with your food."
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11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."
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12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, "Teacher, what should we do?"
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12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"
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13 He told them, "No more extortion - collect only what is required by law."
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13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them.
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14 Soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He told them, "No shakedowns, no blackmail - and be content with your rations."
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14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely--be content with your pay."
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15 The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, "Could this John be the Messiah?"
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15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.
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16 But John intervened: "I'm baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.
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16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
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17 He's going to clean house - make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."
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17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
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18 There was a lot more of this - words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them. The Message!
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18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.
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19 But Herod, the ruler, stung by John's rebuke in the matter of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
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19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done,
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20 capped his long string of evil deeds with this outrage: He put John in jail.
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20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
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| Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
