s1 The beginning of John the Baptizer’s ministry

3 When the Emperor Tiberius had been ruling the Roman Empire for 15 years, and while Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea district, and Herod Antipas was ruling Galilee district, and his brother Philip was ruling Iturea and Trachonitis districts, and Lysanius was ruling Abilene district, 2 and while Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests in Jerusalem, God gave messages to Zechariah’s son John while he was living in the desolate region. 3 So John went all over the area close to the Jordan River. He kept telling people, “If you want God to forgive you for your sins, you must ◄repent/turn away from your sinful behavior► before you ask me to baptize you!”

4 John was the one who fulfilled these words that had been written by the prophet Isaiah {that the prophet Isaiah had written} on a scroll long ago:

In a desolate area, someone [SYN] will be heard shouting to the people who pass by,

“Prepare yourselves to receive the Lord when he comes!

Make yourselves ready so that you will be prepared when he comes,

just like people straighten out the road [MET] for an important official [MET, DOU]!

5 Just like people level off all the places where the land rises and just like they fill all the ravines,

and just like people make the road straight wherever it is crooked,

and just like people make smooth the bumps in the road,

similarly you need to remove all the obstacles which prevent God from blessing you!

6 Then people [SYN] everywhere will understand how God can save [MTY] people.”

7 Although large groups of people came to John to be baptized {in order that he would baptize them}, he knew that many of them were not sincere. So he kept saying to them, “You people are evil [MET] like poisonous snakes! I warn you that God will some day punish [MTY] everyone who sins. And ◄do not think that you can escape from his punishing [MTY] you if you do not turn from your sinful behavior!/did someone tell you that you can escape from his punishing [MTY] you if you do not turn from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ] (OR, Who told you that you could escape God’s punishment?) 8 Do what is appropriate for people who have truly turned from their sinful behavior! God promised to give Abraham many descendants. In order to fulfill that promise, God does not need you! I tell you that he can change these stones to make them descendants of Abraham! So do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We (exc) are descendants of Abraham, so God will not punish us, even though we have sinned!’ 9 God is ready to punish you if you do not turn away from your sinful behavior, just like a man [MET] lays his axe at the roots of a fruit tree to chop it down and throw it into the fire if it does not produce good fruit [MET].”

10 Then various ones in the crowd asked John, “What shall we (exc) do to escape God punishing us (OR), to show that we have repented?” 11 He answered them, “If any of you has two shirts, you should give one of them to someone who has no shirt. If any of you has plenty of food, you should give some to those who have no food.” 12 Some tax collectors came and asked to be baptized (asked him to baptize them}. They asked him, “Teacher, what shall we (exc) do to please God?” 13 He said to them, “Do not take from the people any more money than the Roman government tells you to take!” 14 Some soldiers asked him, “What about us? What should we (exc) do to please God?” He said to them, “Do not say to anyone, ‘If you(sg) do not give me some money, I will hurt you,’ and do not take people to court and falsely accuse them of doing something wrong! And be content with your wages.”

15 People were expecting that the Messiah would come soon. Because of that, many of them wondered about John. Some of them asked him if he was the Messiah. 16 John replied to them all, “No, I am not. I used only water when I baptized you. But the Messiah will soon come! He is far greater than I am. He is so great that I am not worthy to be like his slave and untie his sandals [MET] like a slave would do! He will put his Holy Spirit within [MTY] you to truly change your lives, and he will judge others of you and punish you in the fire [MET] in hell. 17 He is like a man [MET] who wants to clear away the grain on the ground where it has been threshed {they have threshed it}. That man uses a huge fork to throw the grain into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff [MET], and then he cleans up the threshing area. Similarly, God will separate righteous people from the evil people, like a man who gathers the wheat into his storage area, and then he will burn those who are like chaff with a fire ◄that will never be put out/that will burn forever►.”

18 John kept telling people many things to urge them to turn to God, as he told them the good message from God. 19 He also rebuked the ruler of the district, Herod Antipas. He rebuked him for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, while his brother was still alive, and for doing many other evil things. 20 But Herod had his soldiers put John in prison. That was another evil thing he did.