Matthew 3:1 Cross References - ISV

¹ John the Baptist Prepares the Way
About this time, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Judean wilderness,

¹⁰ “Look how the LORD has let me survive, as you can see, these 45 years since the time when the LORD said this through Moses, while Israel was wandering through the wilderness. And look! I’m here today—my eighty-fifth birthday!

⁶¹ The wilderness included Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶² Nibshan, Salt City, and En-gedi, for a total of six cities and villages.

¹⁶ The Capture of Certain Southern TerritoriesThe descendants of the Kenites, the tribe from which Moses’ father-in-law came, accompanied the descendants of Judah from the city of the palms to the Judean wilderness, which is in the desert area south of Arad, and lived with the people there.

³ A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; and in the desert a straight highway for our God.’ ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be lowered; the rough ground will become level, and the mountain ridges made a plain. ⁵ Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity will see it at once; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
⁶ The Word of God Endures ForeverA voice says, “Cry out!” So I asked, “What am I to cry out?” “All humanity is grass, and all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field.

⁸ Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance!

⁷ As they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

¹¹ I tell all of you with certainty, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom from heaven is greater than he.

² told his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these miracles are being done by him.” ³ Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.
⁴ John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John as a prophet.
⁶ But when Herod’s birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests. She pleased Herod ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. ¹⁰ So he sent word and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. ¹² When John’s disciples came, they carried off the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
¹³ Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People
When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring towns. ¹⁴ When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick.

¹⁴ They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he had been speaking to them about John the Baptist.

²⁵ Where did John’s authority to baptize come from? From heaven or from humans?”
They began discussing this among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From humans,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because everyone regards John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”
He in turn told them, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

³² John came to you living a righteous life, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. But even when you saw that, you didn’t change your minds at last and believe him.”

³ He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!’”
⁴ John was baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, being baptized by him while they confessed their sins. ⁶ Now John was dressed in camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey. ⁷ He kept proclaiming, “The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to bend down and untie his sandal straps. ⁸ I baptized you with water, but it is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

¹⁵ He said, “The time is now! The kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing the gospel!”

¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” ¹⁷ because Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod had married.
¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It’s not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t do it ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John. He knew that John was a righteous and holy man, and so he protected him. Whenever he listened to John, he did much of what he said. In fact, he liked listening to him.
²¹ An opportunity came during Herod’s birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ He swore with an oath to her, “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”
²⁴ So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
²⁵ Immediately the girl hurried back to the king with her request, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
²⁶ The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her. ²⁷ So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John’s head. The soldier went and beheaded him in prison. ²⁸ Then he brought John’s head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.

¹³ But the angel told him, “Stop being afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John. ¹⁴ You will have great joy, and many people will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ because he will be great in the Lord’s presence. He will never drink wine or any strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring many of Israel’s descendants back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He is the one who will go before the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to prepare the people to be ready for the Lord.”

⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way

¹ John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ John went throughout the entire Jordan region, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight! ⁵ Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth. ⁶ Everyone will see the salvation that God has provided.’”
⁷ John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! Don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! ⁹ The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”
¹⁰ The crowds kept asking him, “What, then, should we do?”
¹¹ He answered them, “The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn’t have any, and the person who has food must do the same.”
¹² Even some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
¹³ He told them, “Stop collecting more money than the amount you are told to collect.”
¹⁴ Even some soldiers were asking him, “And what should we do?”
He told them, “Never extort money from anyone by threats or blackmail, and be satisfied with your pay.”
¹⁵ Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah. ¹⁶ John replied to all of them, “I’m baptizing you with water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, and I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean up his threshing floor. He’ll gather the grain into his barn, but he’ll burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”
¹⁸ With many other exhortations John continued to proclaim the good news to the people. ¹⁹ Now Herod the tetrarch had been rebuked by John because he had married his brother’s wife Herodias and because of all of the other evil things Herod had done. ²⁰ Added to all this, Herod locked John up in prison.

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to ask the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁶ John’s Witness to the WordThere was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him. ⁸ John was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

¹⁵ John told the truth about him when he cried out, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks higher than me, because he existed before me.’” ¹⁶ We have all received one gracious gift after another from his abundance, ¹⁷ because while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.
¹⁹ The Testimony of John the Baptist
This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and descendants of Levi to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
²⁰ He spoke openly and, remaining true to himself, admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”
²¹ So they asked him, “Well then, are you Elijah?”
John said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
²² “Who are you?” they asked him. “We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³ He replied, “I am ‘…a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the Lord’s highway,”’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
²⁴ Now those men had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
²⁶ John answered them, “I am baptizing with water, but among you stands a man whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This happened in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
²⁹ The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.’ ³¹ I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
³² John also testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The person on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen this and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
³⁵ The First DisciplesThe next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ As he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, yet the bridegroom’s friend, who merely stands by and listens for him, is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That’s why this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must become more important, but I must become less important.”
³¹ The One who Comes from AboveThe one who comes from above is superior to everything. The one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to everything. ³² He testifies about what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The person who has accepted his testimony has acknowledged that God is truthful. ³⁴ The one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. ³⁶ The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

²² beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”

²⁴ Before Jesus’ appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel. ²⁵ When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I’m not the Messiah. No, but he is coming after me, and I’m not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

³ He then asked, “Then into what were you baptized?”
They answered, “Into John’s baptism.”
⁴ Then Paul said, “John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.”