Luke 3

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¹Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ✦ ²while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ✦ ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, ✦ ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. ✦ ⁵Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; ✦ ⁶And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” ✦ ⁷Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ✦ ⁸Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ✦ ⁹And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” ✦ ¹⁰So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” ✦ ¹¹He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” ✦ ¹²Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ✦ ¹³And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” ✦ ¹⁴Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” ✦ ¹⁵Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ✦ ¹⁶John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ✦ ¹⁷His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” ✦ ¹⁸And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ✦ ¹⁹But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ✦ ²⁰also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. ✦ ²¹When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ✦ ²²And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” ✦ ²³Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ✦ ²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ✦ ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ✦ ³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ✦ ³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ✦ ³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ✦ ³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ✦ ³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ✦ ³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ✦ ³⁸the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

John 1 ·14 Matt 3 ·10 Luke 3 ·8 Matt 1 ·7 Acts 10 ·6 Luke 1 ·6 Mark 1 ·5 Acts 2 ·5

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Luke 3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Luke 3David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Luke 3Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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