The Preaching of John the Baptist
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when aPontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and bHerod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of aAnnas and bCaiaphas, cthe word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all athe district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“aThe voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 aEvery ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be brought low;
The crooked will be straight,
And the rough roads smooth.
6 aAnd all flesh will bsee the salvation of God.’”