He went all over the area around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet:
“This is a voice of one
who calls out in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.
Every valley should be filled in,
and every mountain and hill should be made flat.
Roads with turns should be made straight,
and rough roads should be made smooth.
And all people will know about the salvation of God!’ ”
To the crowds of people who came to be baptized by John, he said, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run away from God’s coming punishment? Do the things that show you really have changed your hearts and lives. Don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God could make children for Abraham from these rocks. The ax is now ready to cut down the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
The people asked John, “Then what should we do?”
John answered, “If you have two shirts, share with the person who does not have one. If you have food, share that also.”
Even tax collectors came to John to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
John said to them, “Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to take.”
The soldiers asked John, “What about us? What should we do?”
John said to them, “Don’t force people to give you money, and don’t lie about them. Be satisfied with the pay you get.”
Since the people were hoping for the Christ to come, they wondered if John might be the one.
John answered everyone, “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is greater than I am. I am not good enough to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He will come ready to clean the grain, separating the good grain from the chaff. He will put the good part of the grain into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.” And John continued to preach the Good News, saying many other things to encourage the people.
But John spoke against Herod, the governor, because of his sin with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, and because of the many other evil things Herod did. So Herod did something even worse: He put John in prison.
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