Matthew 3 New American Standard Bible

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ²“^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[c]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

“^(G)The voice of one ^[d]calling ^[e]out in the wilderness,
‘^(H)Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”

⁴Now John himself had ^[f]^(I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[g]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[h]^(P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ⁸^(R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰And the ^(U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, ^(W)I baptize you ^[i]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(X)He will baptize you ^[j]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His ^(Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AA)chaff with ^(AB)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³^(AC)Then Jesus *arrived ^(AD)from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AE)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ¹⁶After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[k]^(AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[l]settling on Him, ¹⁷and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(AG)This is ^[m]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”