I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”
- KJV I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
- NKJV I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
- NASB I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
- NLT I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
John contrasts his water baptism with the Messiah's baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus brings an inward, transforming work that John could only point toward.
Overview
Water baptism signified repentance, but only the Messiah can pour out the Spirit, fulfilling promises like Joel 2 and Ezekiel 36. This Spirit-baptism, realized at Pentecost and in every believer, brings new birth and cleansing from within. The verse highlights Jesus' superiority and His unique authority to give the very Spirit of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 1:5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
- 1 Cor 12:13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
- Acts 19:4–6Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
- Acts 10:45All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
- Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
- Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- Acts 11:15–16As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
- Ezek 36:25–27I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
- Prov 1:23If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
- Isa 32:15until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Matt 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Acts 2:17‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Isa 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Titus 3:5–6He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 1:8 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.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.