1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God;
2. As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee;
3. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4. John was baptizing in the wilderness, and preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins.
5. And there went out to him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6. And John was clothed with camels hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey;
7. And preached, saying, There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
9. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth to Galilee, and was baptized by John in Jordan.