Luke 3:4-25

⁴as it hath been written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths;

⁵every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straightness, and the rough become smooth ways;

⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'

⁷Then said he to the multitudes coming forth to be baptised by him, 'Brood of vipers! who did prompt you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸make, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have a father — Abraham; for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham;

⁹and already also the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree, therefore, not making good fruit is cut down, and to fire it is cast.'

¹⁰And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, 'What, then, shall we do?'

¹¹and he answering saith to them, 'He having two coats — let him impart to him having none, and he having victuals — in like manner let him do.'

¹²And there came also tax-gatherers to be baptised, and they said unto him, 'Teacher, what shall we do?'

¹³and he said unto them, 'Exact no more than that directed you.'

¹⁴And questioning him also were those warring, saying, 'And we, what shall we do?' and he said unto them, 'Do violence to no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.'

¹⁵And the people are looking forward, and all are reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether or not he may be the Christ;

¹⁶John answered, saying to all, 'I indeed with water do baptise you, but he cometh who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to loose the latchet of his sandals — he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire;

¹⁷whose winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather the wheat to his storehouse, and the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'

¹⁸And, therefore, indeed with many other things, exhorting, he was proclaiming good news to the people,

¹⁹and Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him concerning Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, and concerning all the evils that Herod did,

²⁰added also this to all, that he shut up John in the prison.

²¹And it came to pass, in all the people being baptised, Jesus also being baptised, and praying, the heaven was opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily appearance, as if a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, saying, 'Thou art My Son — the Beloved, in thee I did delight.'

²³And Jesus himself was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, son of Joseph,

²⁴the son of Eli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph,

²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli,