Matthew 3

¹ In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea,

² 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'

³ This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said: A voice of one that cries in the desert,'Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.'

⁴ This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, and hisfood was locusts and wild honey.

⁵ Then Jerusalem and al Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him,

⁶ and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, 'Brood ofvipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution?

⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,

⁹ and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father," because, I tel you, God canraise children for Abraham from these stones.

¹⁰ Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit wilbe cut down and thrown on the fire.

¹¹ I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and Iam not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹² His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn;but the chaff he will burn in a fire that wil never go out.'

¹³ Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John.

¹⁴ John tried to dissuade him, with the words, 'It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come tome!'

¹⁵ But Jesus replied, 'Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do al thatuprightness demands.' Then John gave in to him.

¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptised he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavensopened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

¹⁷ And suddenly there was a voice from heaven, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.'