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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://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 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></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="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</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"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/matthew/3.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">John the Baptist Prepares the Way</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,</p><p class="line1">‘Prepare the way for the Lord,</p><p class="line2">make straight paths for him.’ ” <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Isaiah 40:3">a</a></sup></span> </p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>“I baptize you with <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or in">b</a></sup></span> water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or in">c</a></sup></span> the Holy Spirit and fire. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”</p> <p class="sectionhead">The Baptism of Jesus</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Jesus replied, <span class="red">“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”</span> Then John consented.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/3-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">3</span> <span class="footnotebot">Isaiah 40:3</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>in</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>in</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.</p><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../matthew/2.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Matthew 2"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Matthew 2" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../matthew/4.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Matthew 4"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Matthew 4" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/matthew/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenubib2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>