Matthew 3 - 4
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3Now ain those days 1,bJohn the Baptist *2came, 3preaching in the cwilderness of Judea, saying, 2“aRepent, for bthe kingdom of heaven 1is at hand.” 3For this is the aone referred to 1by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “bThe voice of one 2crying in the wilderness,‘cMake ready the way of the 3Lord,Make His paths straight!’”
4Now John himself had 1,aa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was blocusts and wild honey. 5Then Jerusalem awas going out to him, and all Judea, and all bthe district around the Jordan; 6and they were being abaptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7But when he saw many of the aPharisees and bSadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You cbrood of vipers, who warned you to flee from dthe wrath to come? 8“aTherefore bear fruit bin keeping with repentance; 9and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘aWe have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10“And the aaxe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore bevery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11“As for me, aI baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; bHe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12“His awinnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will bgather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the cchaff with dunquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
13aThen Jesus *arrived bfrom Galilee at the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him. 14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ato fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. 16And after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and 1,ahe saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him, 17and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, “aThis is 1My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
The Temptation of Jesus
4aThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness bto be tempted by the devil. 2And after He had afasted forty days and forty nights, He 1then became hungry. 3And athe tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the bSon of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘aMan shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
5Then the devil *took Him into athe holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘aHe will command His angels concerning You’; and‘On their hands they will bear You up,Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’”
8aAgain, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9and he said to Him, “aAll these things I will give You, if You fall down and 1worship me.” 10Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘aYou shall worship the 1Lord your God, and 2serve Him only.’” 11Then the devil *left Him; and behold, aangels came and began to minister to Him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12Now when Jesus heard that aJohn had been taken into custody, bHe departed into Galilee; 13and leaving Nazareth, He came and alived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
15“aThe land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,1By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the 2Gentiles—16aThe people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,Upon them a Light dawned.”The First Disciples
18aNow as Jesus was walking by bthe Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, cSimon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And He *said to them, “1Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21And going on from there He saw two other brothers, 1,aJames the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Ministry in Galilee
23And Jesus was going athroughout all Galilee, bteaching in their synagogues and cpreaching the 1gospel of the kingdom, and dhealing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
24And the news about Him spread athroughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, bdemoniacs, 1,cepileptics, dparalytics; and He healed them. 25And large crowds afollowed Him from Galilee and bthe Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from cbeyond the Jordan.