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during the High-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the Desert.
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John went into all the district about the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of the penitent for the forgiveness of sins;
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as it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying aloud! `In the Desert prepare ye a road for the Lord: make His highway straight.
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Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill levelled down, the crooked places shall be turned into straight roads, and the rugged ways into smooth;
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and then shall all mankind see God's salvation.'"
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Accordingly John used to say to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
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Live lives which shall prove your change of heart; and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.
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And even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees, so that every tree which fails to yield good fruit will quickly be hewn down and thrown into the fire."
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The crowds repeatedly asked him, "What then are we to do?"
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"Let the man who has two coats," he answered, "give one to the man who has none; and let the man who has food share it with others."
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There came also a party of tax-gatherers to be baptized, and they asked him, "Rabbi, what are we to do?"