Luke 3

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.

⁷And learning that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself was in Jerusalem at that time.

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

²⁴So Pilate sentenced that their demand be met.

²⁷In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

²They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.

¹⁷For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married.

⁶along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family.

¹Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

¹This is the word of the Lord that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:

²⁴Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.

¹³They brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better if one man died for the people.

⁷⁷to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.

⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

²⁴Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

⁴Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

²⁶So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”

³A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

²³John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

²⁶“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.

²⁷He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

⁷⁷to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.

¹⁰Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

¹⁶I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.

²“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

¹¹I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up.

²⁴Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

¹²Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.

¹³Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

¹⁰The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

⁵And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

²The Lord has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁶He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁸But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

³¹which You have prepared in the sight of all people,

³³You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

¹⁰and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

¹⁸Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

⁸The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁴Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,

⁵refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

²⁸Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

²⁰First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

⁴³Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

⁷For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.

⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

³³Behold, the Lord God of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

³⁴He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”

¹⁰The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

⁷So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

¹⁴Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

³⁰Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

⁶“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

⁷Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

¹⁷If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

²²On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

²⁹All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.

¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around to listen to Jesus.

²So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

¹¹I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances.

¹“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

¹¹You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

¹⁹And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁵As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.

¹⁶Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

³³I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

²⁶“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.

⁴Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹²But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

⁷I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I will bereave and destroy My people who have not turned from their ways.

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”

⁴Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

⁹You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the Lord will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

¹⁰You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men.

²⁴The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

⁴⁰With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.”

³⁴I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

³⁰He must increase; I must decrease.

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

¹⁵John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

³Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

⁴because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

¹⁷For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married.

¹⁸For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!”

¹²A mocker does not love to be reproved, nor will he consult the wise.

²Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples

⁷He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

⁸Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.

¹⁸They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

⁶For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”

³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

⁴and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was unwilling to forgive.

³⁰“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”

³²Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.

³³I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

¹³At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹⁶Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.

²⁷Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.

²⁸Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

¹⁰As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens breaking open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove.

²³After He had dismissed them, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone,

⁷I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the Lord: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

¹⁷For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

¹⁸And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

¹“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.

³²Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.

³⁴While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵And a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him!”

⁵While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

²²All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

⁵⁵“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

³men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

⁴²They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

¹In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach,

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

¹²After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

⁵and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

¹⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

¹²The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,

⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

¹⁸Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,

¹⁹Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab,

¹Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

³Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.

⁴Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.

¹⁰Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, a leader of the descendants of Judah.

¹¹Nahshon was the father of Salmon, and Salmon was the father of Boaz.

²²After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’

²³From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.

⁷from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

⁴Uthai son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, a descendant of Perez son of Judah.

⁴Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

⁵The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

⁹The sons who were born to Hezron: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.

¹⁰Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, a leader of the descendants of Judah.

¹²And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

²⁹But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

²⁰These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

²¹And these were the descendants of Perez: the Hezronite clan from Hezron and the Hamulite clan from Hamul.

³And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.

²And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

²Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

³⁴Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.

⁸Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

¹²When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

¹³And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

²⁵Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.

²¹And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.

²²The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

²⁸When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son.

²⁹And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the Lord has cursed.”

¹And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁰This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

¹¹And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord God.

¹Adam, Seth, Enosh,

²Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,

⁶When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.

⁷And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

⁷Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

⁸But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.

⁴⁵So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁷The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

²⁵And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

²⁶From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

²⁷God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.