Luke 3

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governing Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came upon John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³And he went into the whole region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the release of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. ⁵Every ravine will be filled in, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked ways will become straight, and the rough roads smooth— ⁶and all flesh will see the salvation of God."

⁷So he would say to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him: "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit worthy of repentance, and do not begin saying among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire."

¹⁰And the crowds kept asking him, "What then should we do?" ¹¹He answered them, "Let the one who has two tunics share with the one who has none, and let the one who has food do the same."

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" ¹³He said to them, "Collect nothing more than what has been prescribed for you."

¹⁴Soldiers too were asking him, "And what should we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money by threats, do not bring false accusations, and be content with your wages."

¹⁵Now while the people were waiting in expectation, and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John—whether he might be the Messiah— ¹⁶John answered, saying to all: "I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

¹⁸So with many other exhortations he proclaimed good news to the people. ¹⁹But Herod the tetrarch, having been rebuked by him concerning Herodias his brother's wife, and concerning all the evil things Herod had done, ²⁰added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were being baptized, and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, the beloved; in you I delight."

²³Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began, being the son—as was thought—of Joseph, son of Heli, ²⁴son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, ²⁵son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, ²⁶son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, ²⁷son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, ²⁸son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, ²⁹son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, ³⁰son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, ³¹son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, ³²son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahshon, ³³son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, ³⁴son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, ³⁵son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, ³⁶son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, ³⁷son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, ³⁸son of Enosh, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.