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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Matthew 3 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/matthew/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/matthew/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Matthew 3</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/2.htm" title="Matthew 2">◄</a> Matthew 3 <a href="../matthew/4.htm" title="Matthew 4">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The Preaching of John the Baptist</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="MRK 1:1-8">Mark 1.1-8</ref>; <ref loc="LUK 3:1-18">Luke 3.1-18</ref>; <ref loc="JHN 1:19-28">John 1.19-28</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_1"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.1" class="v40_3_1">1</span>Years later, John the Baptist started preaching in the desert of Judea. </span><span class="v40_3_2"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.2" class="v40_3_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> He said, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.2!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> will soon be here.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.2!f.3" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_3"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.3" class="v40_3_3">3</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.3!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_3_3">“In the desert someone</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_3_3">is shouting,</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_3_3">‘Get the road ready</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_3_3">for the Lord!</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v40_3_3">Make a straight path</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v40_3_3">for him.’ ”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_4"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.4" class="v40_3_4">4</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.4!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> John wore clothes made of camel's hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_5"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.5" class="v40_3_5">5</span>From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John. </span><span class="v40_3_6"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.6" class="v40_3_6">6</span>They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the river.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_7"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.7" class="v40_3_7">7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_3_7">You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? </span><span class="v40_3_8"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.8" class="v40_3_8">8</span>Do something to show you have really given up your sins. </span><span class="v40_3_9"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.9" class="v40_3_9">9</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.9!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. </span><span class="v40_3_10"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.10" class="v40_3_10">10</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.10!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v40_3_11"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.11" class="v40_3_11">11</span>I baptize you with water so you will give up your sins.<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.11!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.11!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. </span><span class="v40_3_12"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.12" class="v40_3_12">12</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.12!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks.<a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.12!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> He will store the wheat in a barn and burn the husks in a fire that never goes out.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Baptism of Jesus</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="MRK 1:9-11">Mark 1.9-11</ref>; <ref loc="LUK 3:21">Luke 3.21</ref>,<ref loc="LUK 3:22">22</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_13"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.13" class="v40_3_13">13</span>Jesus left Galilee and went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. </span><span class="v40_3_14"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.14" class="v40_3_14">14</span>But John kept objecting and said, “I ought to be baptized by you. Why have you come to me?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_15"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.15" class="v40_3_15">15</span>Jesus answered, “For now this is how it should be, because we must do all God wants us to do.” Then John agreed.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v40_3_16"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.16" class="v40_3_16">16</span>So Jesus was baptized. And as soon as he came out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. </span><span class="v40_3_17"><span class="reftext" id="Matt.3.17" class="v40_3_17">17</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Matt.3.17!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him.”</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">kingdom of heaven: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In the Gospel of Matthew “kingdom of heaven” is used with the same meaning as “God's kingdom” in Mark and Luke.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">will soon be here: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “is already here.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">so you will give up your sins: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “because you have given up your sins.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">carry his sandals: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">This was one of the duties of a slave.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">3.12 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">After Jewish farmers had trampled out the grain, they used a large fork to pitch the grain and the husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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