1. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar – when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene –
2. during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
4. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness,“Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for him.