The Mission of John the Baptist
(Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:19-28)

1And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip being tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and of Trachonitis, and Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came upon John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

3And he went into all the region surrounding the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins, 4as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make His paths straight.’

5Every valley will be filled,

and every mountain and hill will be made low;

and the crooked will become into straight,

and the rough ways into smooth.

6And all flesh will see the salvation of God.”a

7So he was saying to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “Offspring of vipers, who forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance. And do not begin to say in yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9And already also the ax is applied to the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire.”

10And the crowds were asking him, saying, “What then shall we do?”

11And answering, he was saying to them, “The one having two tunics, let him impart to the one having none; and the one having food, let him do likewise.”

12And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

13And he said to them, “Collect nothing more beyond that having been appointed to you.”

14And those being soldiers also were asking him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Extort no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

15And the people are expecting and all wondering in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ. 16John answered all saying, “I indeed baptize you with water,b but the One mightier than I comes, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,c 17of whom the winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn. But He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

18Therefore indeed exhorting many other things, he was preaching the good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evils that Herod had done, 20added this yet to all: He also locked up John in prison.

The Baptism of Jesus
(Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; John 1:29-34)

21Now it came to pass, in all the people having been baptized, Jesus also having been baptized and having prayed, the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in a bodily form as a dove, and a voice came out of heaven: “You are My Son, the beloved; in You I am well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus
(Ruth 4:18-22; Matthew 1:1-17)

23And Jesus beginning, was Himself about thirty years old,

being son as was supposed, of Joseph,

of Heli,

24of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi,

of Jannai, of Joseph,

25of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum,

of Esli, of Naggai,

26of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semein,

of Josech, of Joda,

27of Joannen, of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel,

of Shealtiel, of Neri,

28of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam,

of Elmadam, of Er,

29of Joshua, of Eliezer, of Jorim,

of Matthat, of Levi,

30of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph,

of Jonam, of Eliakim,

31of Melea, of Menna, of Mattatha,

of Nathan, of David,

32of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz,

of Sala,d of Nahshon,

33of Amminadab, of Admin,e of Arni,f

of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah,

34of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham,

of Terah, of Nahor,

35of Serug, of Reu, of Peleg,

of Eber, of Shelah,

36of Cainan, of Arphaxad, of Shem,

of Noah, of Lamech,

37of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Jared,

of Mahalalel, of Cainan,

38of Enosh, of Seth, of Adam,

of God.