19 Yohan explained some of this when the Jewish leaders sent out priests and temple workers from Yerushalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20 He didn’t flinch from the truth and so he told them, “I am not the chosen messiah.”

21 [ref]So they asked him again, “Are you Eliyyah come back to life?”

And he answered, “No, I’m not.”

They asked, “Are you the prophet?”

Again he answered, “No, I’m not.”

22 So they asked him, “Who are you then? We need to give an answer to the ones who sent us. How do you describe yourself?”

23 [ref]So he said, “I am a voice shouting[fn] in the wilderness smooth the path of the master, as the prophet Isayah said.”

24 Some of the ones sent out were members of the Pharisee party. 25 These ones asked Yohan, “So why are you immersing people then if you aren’t the messiah or Eliyyah or the prophet?”

26 He answered, “I’m immersing people in water, but somewhere here among us all there’s someone you don’t know— 27 the one coming after me, and I’m not even good enough to untie his sandal straps!”

28 All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Yordan River where Yohan was immersing people.