1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God;
2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee;
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John was baptizing in the wilderness, and preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out to him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camels hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey;
7 And preached, saying, There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.