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Nowin the fifteenthyear of the reign of TiberiusCaesar,PontiusPilate being governor of Judaea,andHerod being tetrarch[a] of Galilee,andhisbrotherPhiliptetrarch of Ituraeaand of the region of Trachonitis,andLysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
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AnnasandCaiaphasbeing the high priests, the word of GodcameuntoJohn the son of Zachariasin the wilderness.
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And he cameintoall the country aboutJordan,preaching the baptism of repentancefor the remission of sins;
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As it is writtenin the book of the words of Esaias the prophet,saying, The voice of one cryingin the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,makehispathsstraight.
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Everyvalley shall befilled, andeverymountainandhill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be madestraight,and the roughways shall be madesmooth;
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Thensaid he to the multitude that came forth to be baptizedofhim, O generation of vipers,who hath warnedyou to fleefrom the wrath to come?
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Bring forththereforefruitsworthy of repentance,andbeginnot to saywithinyourselves, We haveAbraham to our father:for I say unto you,ThatGod is ableofthesestones to raise upchildren unto Abraham.
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Andnowalso the axe is laidunto the root of the trees:everytreetherefore which bringethnotforthgoodfruit is hewn down, andcastinto the fire.
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And the peopleaskedhim,saying, What shall we dothen?
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He answerethandsaith unto them, He that hathtwocoats, let him impart to him that hathnone;and he that hathmeat, let him dolikewise.
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Thencamealsopublicans to be baptized, andsaiduntohim,Master,what shall we do?
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And he saiduntothem,Exactnomorethan that which is appointedyou.
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And the soldierslikewisedemanded of him,saying, Andwhat shall wedo? And he saiduntothem, Do violence[b] to no man,neither accuse any falsely; and be content with yourwages.
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And as the people were in expectation,[c]and all menmusedintheirheartsofJohn,whetherhewere the Christ, or not;
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Johnanswered, saying unto them all,Iindeedbaptizeyou with water;but one mightier thanIcometh, the latchet of whose*shoes I amnotworthy to unloose: he shall baptizeyouwith the HolyGhostand with fire:
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Whosefan is inhishand,and he will throughly purgehisfloor,and will gather the wheatintohisgarner;but the chaff he will burn with fireunquenchable.
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And*manyotherthingsin his exhortationpreached he unto the people.
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ButHerod the tetrarch, being reprovedbyhimforHerodiashisbrotherPhilip'swife,andforall the evilswhichHerod had done,
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Addedyetthisaboveall,that he shut upJohninprison.
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Now when all the people were baptized*, it came to pass, that Jesusalso being baptized, andpraying, the heaven was opened,
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And the HolyGhostdescended in a bodilyshapelike a doveuponhim,and a voicecamefromheaven, which said, ThouartmybelovedSon;inthee I am well pleased.
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AndJesushimselfbegan to beaboutthirty years of age,being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
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Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,
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Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,