OET interlinear LUKE 3:20

Section 3:1–20: John the Baptizer prepared the way for Jesus

The last event in Luke 2 describes Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. This section begins about eighteen years later. At the beginning of chapter 3, both Jesus and John the Baptizer were about thirty years old. Both men were ready to begin public ministry.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Preaching of John (NCV)

John the Baptist and Jesus (REB)

John the Baptizer tells people to prepare themselves for the Messiah

Parts of Luke 3:1–20 are basically the same as verses in Matthew 3:1–12. But Luke 3:1–2, 10–14, and 19–20 are not in Matthew.

Paragraph 3:19–20

In the next two paragraphs Luke did not tell the events in the order in which they happened. Paragraph 3:19–20 tells about something that would happen after John baptized Jesus in 3:21–22.Luke may have used this order because John’s imprisonment was the end of his public ministry (3:19–20) and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (3:21–22). In some languages, it will be more natural to put these events in the order in which they actually happened. For example:

²¹When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

¹⁹ Sometime after this John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done. ²⁰Then Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

Herod added this to them all:

• Then Herod added to his many sins

• Then Herod did an even worse evil thing.

He locked John up in prison.

• by having John locked up inside a prison.

• He ordered his men to lock John in prison, and they did.