Bible Time

¹IN the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, during the governorship of Pontius Pilate in Judea, when Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene, ²During the high priesthood of Hanan and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³And he went throughout the country around Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice which calls in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make the paths of our God straight in the plain. ⁵Let all the valleys be filled up, and all the mountains and hills be leveled; let the crooked places be made straight, and the rough places like a plain; ⁶And let all flesh see the salvation of God.

⁷And he said to the people who were coming to him to be baptized, Oh offspring of scorpions, who has warned you to escape from the anger which is coming? ⁸Therefore bring forth fruits which are worthy of repentance; and do not begin to say inside yourselves, We have Abraham as our father; for I say to you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ⁹Look, the axe is already placed at the root of the trees; therefore every tree which does not bear good fruits will be cut down and cast into the fire. ¹⁰And the people asked him, saying, What then will we do? ¹¹He answered, saying to them, He who has 2 shirts, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. ¹²And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what will we do? ¹³He said to them, Do not exact anything more than what is commanded you to exact. ¹⁴And the soldiers also asked him saying, What will we do? And he said to them, Do not molest any man, and do not accuse any man; your own wages should be enough for you.

¹⁵While the people were placing their hope on John, and all of them were thinking in their hearts, Perhaps he is the Messiah; ¹⁶John answered, saying to them, Look, I baptize you with water; but one is coming after me, who is greater than I, the strings of whose shoes I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; ¹⁷He holds a shovel in his hand, and purifies his threshing; the wheat he gathers into his barns, and the straw he burns in the unquenchable fire. ¹⁸Many other things he also taught and preached to the people. ¹⁹Now Herod the tetrarch, because he was rebuked by John concerning Herodias wife of Philip his brother, and for all the evil things that he was doing, ²⁰Added this to them all, he also put John into prison.

²¹It came to pass when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while he prayed, heaven was opened, ²²And the Holy Spirit descended on him, like a dove, and a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son; with you I am pleased. ²³Now Jesus was about 30 years old, and he was supposed to be the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵The son of Matthat, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hasli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶The son of Maath, the son of Mattath, the son of Shemei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷The son of John, the son of Rheasa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shelahiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmodad, the son of Er, ²⁹The son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Joram, the son of Mattitha, the son of Levi, ³⁰The son of Simon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹The son of Melea, the son of Mani, the son of Mattha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³²The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³The son of Aminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵The son of Serug, the son of Arau, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shalah, ³⁶The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxar, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalael, the son of Cainan, ³⁸The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, who was of God.