Matthew 3
3
1And in those days cometh John the Baptist, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,
2and saying, ‘Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,’
3for this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.’
4And this John had his clothing of camel's hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and honey of the field.
5Then were going forth unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan,
6and they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.
7And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! who did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?
8bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation,
9and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have — Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham,
10and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.
11‘I indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he who after me is coming is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,
12whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.’
13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee upon the Jordan, unto John to be baptized by him,
14but John was forbidding him, saying, ‘I have need by thee to be baptized — and thou dost come unto me!’
15But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Suffer now, for thus it is becoming to us to fulfil all righteousness,’ then he doth suffer him.
16And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him,
17and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ‘This is My Son — the Beloved, in whom I did delight.’
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Matthew 3: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Matthew 3
3
Thunder in the Desert!
1-2While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
3John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
4-6John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
7-10When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
11-12“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
* * *
13-14Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”
15But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
16-17The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.