8. Change your hearts! And show by your lives that you have changed. I know what you are about to say—‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks!
9. The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10. The people asked John, “What should we do?”
11. He answered, “If you have two shirts, share with someone who does not have one. If you have food, share that too.”
12. Even the tax collectors came to John. They wanted to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13. He told them, “Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to collect.”
14. The soldiers asked him, “What about us? What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t use force or lies to make people give you money. Be happy with the pay you get.”
15. Everyone was hoping for the Messiah to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Messiah.”
16. John’s answer to this was, “I baptize you in water, but there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17. He will come ready to clean the grain. He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.”
18. John said many other things like this to encourage the people to change, and he told them the Good News.
19. John criticized Herod the ruler for what he had done with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, as well as for all the other bad things he had done.
20. So Herod added another bad thing to all his other wrongs: He put John in jail.
21. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus came and was baptized too. And while he was praying, the sky opened,
22. and the Holy Spirit came down on him. The Spirit looked like a real dove. Then a voice came from heaven and said, “You are my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with you.”
23. When Jesus began to teach, he was about 30 years old. People thought that Jesus was Joseph’s son. Joseph was the son of Eli.
24. Eli was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi. Levi was the son of Melchi. Melchi was the son of Jannai. Jannai was the son of Joseph.