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It was during those days thatYochanan the Immerser arrived in the desert ofY'hudah and began proclaiming the message,
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"Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!"
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This is the man Yesha`yahu was talking about when he said, "The voice of someone crying out: `In the desert prepare the way of ADONAI! Make straight paths for him!'"
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Yochanan wore clothes of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
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People went out to him from Yerushalayim, from all Y'hudah, and from the whole region around the Yarden.
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Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River.
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But when Yochanan saw many of the P'rushim and Tz'dukim coming to be immersed by him, he said to them, "You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment?
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If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it!