1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2. As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee.
3. A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
4. John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, unto remission of sins.
5. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem, and were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
6. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7. And he preached, saying: There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.