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NASB Bible

Matthew 3

The Preaching of John the Baptist

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Now  ain those days  bJohn the Baptist * 1came,  2preaching in the  cwilderness of Judea, saying,

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aRepent, for  bthe kingdom of heaven  1is at hand."

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For this is the  aone referred to  1by Isaiah the prophet when he said, " bTHE VOICE OF ONE  2CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ` cMAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!' "

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Now 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.

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Then Jerusalem  awas going out to him, and all Judea and all  bthe district around the Jordan;

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and they were being  abaptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

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But when he saw many of the  aPharisees and  bSadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You  cbrood of vipers, who warned you to flee from  dthe wrath to come?

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aTherefore bear fruit  bin keeping with repentance;

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and 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.

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"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.

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"As for me,  aI baptize you  1with 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  1with the Holy Spirit and fire.

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"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

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 aThen Jesus *arrived  bfrom Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

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But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"

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But Jesus answering 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.

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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 as a dove and  2lighting on Him,

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and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, " aThis is  1My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:24:05 2007)

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