LUK 3
3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Matt. 3:1-12; Mk. 1:1-8; Jn. 1:19-28
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar as Roman emperor, when Pontius Pilate was serving as governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch ruling over Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene—
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came powerfully upon John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3 John went throughout all the surrounding region of the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
4 This fulfilled what is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"The voice of one calling out in the wilderness,
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make His paths straight and ready.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
and every mountain and hill shall be levelled.
The crooked places shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become smooth paths.
6 Then all humanity will see the salvation of God.'"*
7 Therefore John was saying to the crowds that came out to be baptised by him, "You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath of God?
8 Produce fruit that is appropriate to and consistent with repentance. Do not even begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!
9 Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees, ready to cut. Therefore, every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire of judgment."
10 The crowds were asking him, "What then should we do? How should we demonstrate true repentance?"
11 John would answer them, saying, "The one who has two tunics should share with the one who has none. The one who has food should do the same and share with those in need."
12 Even tax collectors—despised for their collaboration with Rome—came to be baptised. They said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?"
13 He said to them, "Collect no more tax money than what has been prescribed for you. Do not use your position to extort people."
14 Soldiers who were serving in the military were also asking him, "What should we also do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations. Be satisfied with your wages."
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, wondering whether he might possibly be the Christ,
16 John answered them all, saying, "I baptise you with water as a symbol of repentance, but One who is mightier and more powerful than I is coming. I am not worthy even to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in His hand, ready to thoroughly clean out His threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire."
18 With many other exhortations and warnings, John kept preaching the good news to the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved and rebuked by John concerning Herodias—the wife of his brother Philip whom Herod had unlawfully taken—and concerning all the evil acts that Herod had committed,
20 added this sin to all the others: He also confined John in prison, silencing the prophet.
The Baptism of Jesus
Matt. 3:13-17; Mk. 1:9-11
21 When all the people were being baptised, Jesus also was baptised. While He was praying after His baptism, heaven was opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. A voice came from heaven, declaring, "You are My Son, the Beloved One. In You I am well pleased."
The Genealogy of Jesus
Matt. 1:1-17
23 Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry. He was the son, as people supposed, of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,
24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, 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 Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
27 the son of Joanan, 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 Elmadam, the son of Er,
29 the son of Joshua, 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 Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, 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 Sala, the son of Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, 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 Arphaxad, 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 Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Notes
6 Quoted from Is. 40:3-5
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
