Matthew 3
New Testament for Everyone
The preaching of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist appeared. He was preaching in the Judaean wilderness.
2 “Repent!” he was saying. “The kingdom of heaven is coming!”
3 John, you see, is the person spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, when he said,
The voice of someone shouting in the desert:
“Prepare the route that the Lord will take,
straighten out his paths!”
4 John himself had clothing made from camel’s hair, and a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Jerusalem, all Judaea, and the whole area around the Jordan, were going off to him. 6 They were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 He saw several Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized by him.
“You brood of vipers!” he said to them. “Who warned you to escape from the coming wrath? 8 You’d better prove your repentance by bearing the right sort of fruit! 9 And you needn’t start thinking to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ Let me tell you, God is quite capable of raising up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 The axe is already taking aim at the root of the trees. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Jesus’ baptism
11 “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,” John continued. “But the one who is coming behind me is more powerful than me! I’m not even worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire! 12 He’s got his shovel in his hand, ready to clear out his barn, and gather all his corn into the granary. But he’ll burn up the chaff with a fire that will never go out.”
13 Then Jesus arrived at the Jordan from Galilee, and came to John to be baptized by him.
14 John tried to stop him.
“I ought to be baptized by you,” he said, “and are you going to come to me?”
15 “This is how it’s got to be right now,” said Jesus. “This is the right way for us to complete God’s whole saving plan.”
So John consented, 16 and Jesus was baptized. All at once, as he came up out of the water, suddenly the heavens were opened, and he saw God’s spirit coming down like a dove and landing on him.
17 Then there came a voice out of the heavens.
“This is my son, my beloved one,” said the voice. “I am delighted with him.”
Matthew 3
Christian Standard Bible
The Herald of the Messiah
3 In those days John the Baptist came,(A) preaching in the wilderness of Judea(B) 2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” (C) 3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight
4 Now John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.(E)
7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees(F) coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?(G) 8 Therefore produce fruit(H) consistent with[b] repentance. 9 And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’(I) For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.(J)
11 “I baptize you with[c] water for repentance,(K) but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove[d] his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.(L) 12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”(M)
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.(N) 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”
15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.
16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens(O) suddenly opened for him,[e] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.(P) 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”(Q)
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.