¹⁵ Everyone became excited and wondered, “Could John be the Messiah?”

¹⁶ John said, “I am just baptizing with water. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in his barn and burn the husks with a fire that never goes out.”

¹⁸ In many different ways John preached the good news to the people. ¹⁹  But to Herod the ruler, he said, “It was wrong for you to take Herodias, your brother’s wife.” John also said Herod had done many other bad things. ²⁰ Finally, Herod put John in jail, and this was the worst thing he had done.

The Baptism of Jesus

²¹ While everyone else was being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. Then as he prayed, the sky opened up, ²²  and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”

Contemporary English Version (CEV) - for other versions see BibleGateway.com