John the Baptist preaches in the desert
(Also in Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:2-8; John 1:19-28)
1Tiberius was the ruler of the Romans for 15 years. Pontius Pilate ruled over Judea and Herod was king in Galilee. His brother Philip was king in Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was king in Abilene. 2There were 2 high-priests. Their names were Annas and Caiaphas. Then God started to speak to John, the son of Zechariah. John lived in the desert. 3He went to the Jordan River and he preached to the people. He told them to turn to God and start living as He wanted them to live and to be baptised. This would show that they had turned to God because He had forgiven their sins. 4John did what the prophet Isaiah had written in his book. He said:
‘Someone shouts in the desert.
He says: “You must prepare
the way for the Lord.
You must make his road easy to walk on.
5Every valley will be filled up,
and every mountain and hill will become flat.
The roads will be straight
and the bad roads will become good.
6Everyone will see that God saves his people.” ’
7A lot of people came to John and asked him to baptise them. But John told them: ‘You are cunning like snakes. You try to run away from God who will punish you, but you can not run away from God. 8No, you must show that your lives have turned to God and you must start doing the things that He wants. You must show that you are like trees that have good fruit. You say to each other: “We are the children_of_Abraham”, and you think that God will not punish you. But I tell you: God can tell these stones to become children_of_Abraham and it will happen. 9God has already started to judge. It is like someone with an axe that has started to cut down every tree that does not have good fruit. He will cut them down and throw them into the fire.’
10The people said to John: ‘What must we do?’ 11John told them: ‘If you have 2 coats, give one to someone who does not have one. If you have food, give some of your food to people who do not have food.’
12The tax-collectors also came and asked John to baptise them. They asked him: ‘Teacher, what must we do?’ 13John told them: ‘Do not make people pay more money to you than what they must pay.’
14The soldiers asked John: ‘And what must we do?’ John told them: ‘Don't hurt people or tell them to give you money. You must be satisfied with the money that you get.’
15The people talked to each other and they asked John: ‘Are you the Christ?’ 16John said to everyone: ‘No, I baptise you with water but later on, Someone will come who can do much more than I can do. I am not important enough to take off his sandals. I baptise you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy_Spirit and with fire. 17He will judge everyone. It will be like a person who has a fork and separates the wheat from the chaff. He will put all the wheat in his store room and He will burn the chaff in a big fire that will burn forever.’
18John told the people a lot of things. He told them the Good_News that God wanted to turn their lives to Him. 19John also preached to King Herod and told him that it was wrong of him to take his brother's wife, Herodias, and marry her. John warned King Herod and said that God would punish him for all the bad things that he had done. 20Then Herod did something that was even worse: He told his men to arrest John and put him in jail.
John baptises Jesus
(Also in Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; John 1:29-34)
21When John baptised all the people, He also baptised Jesus. After he had baptised Jesus, Jesus prayed and the heaven opened. 22The Holy_Spirit came down to Jesus like a dove that comes down from the sky. God talked from heaven and He said: ‘You are my Son, and I love You. I am pleased with you.’
The family and forefathers of Jesus
23Jesus was about 30 years old when He started to preach and to tell the Good_News to people. They thought He was the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Eli. 24Eli was the son of Matthat and Matthat was the son of Levi. Levi was the son of Melki and Melki was the son of Jannai. Jannai was the son of Joseph. 25Joseph was the son of Mattathias, Mattathias was the son of Amos, Amos was the son of Nahum, Nahum was the son of Esli, Esli was the son of Naggai, 26Naggai was the son of Maath, Maath was the son of Mattathias, Mattathias was the son of Semein, Semein was the son of Josek, Josek was the son of Joda,
27Joda was the son of Joanan, Joanan was the son of Rhesa, Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel, Shealtiel was the son of Neri, 28Neri was the son of Melki, Melki was the son of Addi, Addi was the son of Cosam, Cosam was the son of Elmadam, Elmadam was the son of Er, 29Er was the son of Joshua, Joshua was the son of Eliezer, Eliezer was the son of Jorim, Jorim was the son of Matthat, Matthat was the son of Levi, 30Levi was the son of Simeon, Simeon was the son of Judah, Judah was the son of Joseph, Joseph was the son of Jonam, Jonam was the son of Eliakim, 31Eliakim was the son of Melea, Melea was the son of Menna, Menna was the son of Mattatha, Mattatha was the son of Nathan, Nathan was the son of David,
32David was the son of Jesse, Jesse was the son of Obed, Obed was the son of Boaz, Boaz was the son of Salmon, Salmon was the son of Nahshon, 33Nahshon was the son of Amminadab, Amminadab was the son of Admin, Admin was the son of Arni, Arni was the son of Hezron, Hezron was the son of Perez, Perez was the son of Judah, 34Judah was the son of Jacob, Jacob was the son of Isaac, Isaac was the son of Abraham, Abraham was the son of Terah, Terah was the son of Nahor, 35Nahor was the son of Serug, Serug was the son of Reu, Reu was the son of Peleg, Peleg was the son of Eber, Eber was the son of Shelah,
36Shelah was the son of Cainan, Cainan was the son of Arphaxad, Arphaxad was the son of Shem, Shem was the son of Noah, Noah was the son of Lamech, 37Lamech was the son of Methuselah, Methuselah was the son of Enoch, Enoch was the son of Jared, Jared was the son of Mahalalel, Mahalalel was the son of Kenan, 38Kenan was the son of Enosh, Enosh was the son of Seth, Seth was the son of Adam and Adam was the son of God.
