Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, " , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the  : 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths  .'" Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were   by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of  ! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear   in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father', for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the  . I baptize you with   for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the   and  . His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the  , but the chaff he will   with unquenchable fire."