1 In the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate governed Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
2 under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3 He went through all the country around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling out in the wilderness: 'Make ready the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.
5 Every ravine will be filled in, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the crooked places will become straight and the rough roads smooth,
6 and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"
7 So he kept saying to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who showed you how to escape the coming wrath?
8 Produce, then, fruits that fit repentance, and do not start telling yourselves, 'Abraham is our father.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these very stones.
9 Already the axe is lying at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
10 The crowds kept asking him, "What should we do, then?"
11 He answered them, "The one who has two tunics should share with the one who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."
12 Tax collectors came as well to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"
13 He told them, "Do not collect more than you have been ordered to."
14 Soldiers too were asking him, "And we, what should we do?" He told them, "Do not shake anyone down or accuse anyone falsely, and be satisfied with your pay."
15 As the people were waiting in expectation and all were wondering in their hearts whether John might perhaps be the Christ,
16 John answered them all: "I baptize you with water; but one stronger than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not fit to loosen. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor completely and gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn up with fire that cannot be put out."
18 So, with many other appeals as well, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, and because of all the wicked things Herod had done,
20 added this to everything else: he locked John up in prison.
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus too was baptized; and as he was praying, heaven was opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form, like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven: "You are my Son, the beloved; in you I am well pleased."
23 Jesus himself, when he began, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph,
25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,
27 the son of Joanna, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,
29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menam, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arpachshad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan,
38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.