Matthew 3
3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1In those days John the Baptist came and preached in the desert around Judea. 2He said, “Turn away from your sins! The kingdom of heaven is near.” 3John is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said,
“A messenger is calling out in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ”
4John’s clothes were made out of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. 5People came out to him from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and the whole area around the Jordan River. 6They confessed their sins, and John baptized them in the Jordan.
7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, John said to them, “You little snakes! Who warned you to try to escape the punishment that’s coming? 8If you have turned away from your sins, you have to live in a way that shows that. 9Don’t think you’re safe just because you can say, ‘We come from Abraham.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. 10The ax is already at the tree roots, and any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11“I’m baptizing you with water so you can show that you’ve turned away from your sins. But someone is coming after me who’s more powerful than I am. I’m not even worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12He’ll have a tool with him and use it to sort out everything on his threshing floor. He’ll gather the wheat into his barn, but he’ll burn up the husks in a fire that can’t be put out.”
Jesus Is Baptized
13Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John could baptize him. 14But John didn’t want to. He told Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, so why are you coming to me?”
15Jesus answered, “Please agree to this. It’s right for us to do everything that God is asking of people now.” So then John agreed.
16Right after Jesus was baptized, as he was coming up out of the water, at that moment, heaven was opened and Jesus saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. 17A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son. I’m very pleased with him.”
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Matthew 3
3
John the Baptiser got the people ready
1Many years later, while Jesus was still in Nazareth, John the Baptiser started his work. He went to the bush in Judea country, and he started to tell everybody his message. 2He said, “Listen. God is going to show everyone how they can be in his family. So you have to stop doing bad things. You have to turn around and live God’s way.”#Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15
3John was the man that Isaiah wrote about, a long time ago. Isaiah was one of God’s men, and God got him to write this in God’s book,
“A man will be out in the bush,
and he will call out to people.
He will say, ‘You mob get ready.
God is coming to this country,
so you have to get ready for him.
It is like when a big boss comes,
and you have to make a good road for him.’ ”#Isaiah 40:3
4John wore rough clothes, made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt. He ate grasshoppers and bush honey.#2 Kings 1:8 5A lot of people went out to see John, and to listen to him. They went out from Jerusalem city, and from all of Judea country, and from all the country around the Jordan River. 6And, after those people said they were sorry for the bad things they did, John took them through a special washing ceremony, that is, he baptised them in the Jordan River.
7Some men came to that place to watch John baptise people. Some of them were from the Pharisee mob, that were strong for the Jewish law, and some of them were from the mob called Sadducees. John saw them and said, “You mob are bad, and you are tricky. You are just like a mob of cheeky snakes. Did somebody tell you that God is really angry with you, so you want to do something to stop him from punishing you?#Matthew 12:34; 23:33 8If you really are sorry for the bad things you did, and if you are turning around properly to live God’s way, show us. If we see you doing good things, then we will know it is true. 9But don’t just say to yourselves, ‘We are in Abraham’s family, so we’ll be all right.’ Listen, God can turn these stones here into Abraham’s family.#John 8:33 10So you look out. God is going to punish you. He is like a man lifting up an axe to cut the roots of a tree. You are like trees that haven’t got good fruit, so men chop them down and throw them into a fire. God will punish you like that. He will throw you into a fire.”#Matthew 7:19
11John kept on talking to the people. He said, “If you say you are sorry for the bad things you did, and if you turn to God, then I will baptise you with water. But somebody is coming soon, and he is more important than me. I’m not even good enough to carry his shoes. I’m just nothing. He will put the Holy Spirit in you, that is, he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. 12You know the way a farmer gets all the seeds from the plants he grows. He hits the seed heads with a stick and throws them in the air, so that the seeds fall off the plants. Then he gathers all the seeds and puts them in his shed. But he burns all the rest. It is rubbish, and he burns it in a fire. Well, God is like that farmer. He’s got that stick in his hand right now. If you turn around and live God’s way, he will look after you. But if you don’t, he will throw you in the fire that never goes out.”
John baptised Jesus
13At that time, Jesus left his home in Galilee country, and he went south to the Jordan River. Jesus wanted John to baptise him. 14But John didn’t agree with him. He said, “No. Don’t come to me. I can’t baptise you. You are better than me, so really, you have to baptise me.”
15But Jesus said, “We have to do it the way God wants. So now, while you are baptising people, you can baptise me too.” Then John agreed with him.
16So John baptised Jesus. And as Jesus came up out of the water, the sky opened up, and Jesus saw the spirit of God coming down like a pigeon, and landing on him. 17And God talked from heaven. He said, “This is my son. I love him very much, and I’m very happy with him.”#Genesis 22:2; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18; 17:5; Luke 9:35
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