Matthew 3:11
New International Version
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

New Living Translation
“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

English Standard Version
“I baptize you with water 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 Holy Spirit and fire.

Berean Standard Bible
I 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.

Berean Literal Bible
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but after me is coming He who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to carry the sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,

King James Bible
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

New King James Version
I indeed baptize you with water unto 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 Holy Spirit and fire.

New American Standard Bible
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

NASB 1995
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

NASB 1977
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Legacy Standard Bible
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Amplified Bible
“As for me, I baptize you with water because of [your] repentance [that is, because you are willing to change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret your sin and live a changed life], but He (the Messiah) who is coming after me is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove [even as His slave]; He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire (judgment).

Christian Standard Bible
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

American Standard Version
I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“I am baptizing you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, for I am not worthy to pick up his sandals; he is to baptize you in The Spirit of Holiness and in fire.”

Contemporary English Version
I baptize you with water so you will give up your sins. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I indeed baptize you in the water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire.

English Revised Version
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I baptize you with water so that you will change the way you think and act. But the one who comes after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Good News Translation
I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.

International Standard Version
I am baptizing you with water as evidence of repentance, but the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Literal Standard Version
I indeed immerse you in water for conversion, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to carry the sandals, He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

Majority Standard Bible
I 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]].

New American Bible
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

NET Bible
"I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am--I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

New Revised Standard Version
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

New Heart English Bible
I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Webster's Bible Translation
I indeed baptize you with water to repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

Weymouth New Testament
I indeed am baptizing you in water on a profession of repentance; but He who is coming after me is mightier than I: His sandals I am not worthy to carry for a moment; He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.

World English Bible
“I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

Young's Literal Translation
'I indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he who after me is coming is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Mission of John the Baptist
10The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 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. 12His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”…

Cross References
Isaiah 4:4
when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

Matthew 3:6
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Mark 1:4
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:7
And he began to proclaim: "After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

Mark 1:8
I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Luke 3:16
John answered all of them: "I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

John 1:15
John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, "This is He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'"


Treasury of Scripture

I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

baptize.

Matthew 3:6
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mark 1:4,8
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins…

Luke 3:3,16
And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; …

but.

Luke 1:17
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

John 1:15,26,27,30,34
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me…

John 3:23-36
And John also was baptizing in AEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized…

whose.

Mark 1:7
And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

Luke 7:6,7
Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: …

Acts 13:25
And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

he shall.

Isaiah 4:4
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

Isaiah 59:20,21
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD…

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Baptise Baptism Baptize Baptizing Bear Carry Changed Enough Fire Fit Ghost Good Greater Hearts Holy Indeed Mightier Moment Profession Remove Repentance Sandals Shoes Spirit Water Worthy
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Baptise Baptism Baptize Baptizing Bear Carry Changed Enough Fire Fit Ghost Good Greater Hearts Holy Indeed Mightier Moment Profession Remove Repentance Sandals Shoes Spirit Water Worthy
Matthew 3
1. John preaches: his office, life, and baptism.
7. He reprimands the Pharisees,
13. and baptizes Jesus in Jordan.














(11) With water unto repentance.--The "I" is emphasized, as also the baptism with water, as contrasted with that which was to follow. The result of John's baptism, even for those who received it faithfully, did not go beyond the change of character and life implied in "repentance." The higher powers of the unseen world were to be manifested afterwards.

He that cometh after me.--The words as spoken by the Baptist could only refer to the expected Christ, the Lord, whose way he had been sent to prepare.

Mightier.--i.e., as the words that follow show, stronger both to save and to punish; at once the Deliverer and the Judge.

Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.--In Luke 3:16 we have the yet stronger expression, "The latchet (or thong) of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose." Among Jews, Greeks, and Romans alike, this office, that of untying and carrying the shoes of the master of the house or of a guest, was the well-known function of the lowest slave of the household. When our Lord washed the disciples' feet (John 13:4-5), He was taking upon Himself a like menial task which, of course, actually involved the other. The remembrance of the Baptist's words may in part account for St. Peter's indignant refusal to accept such services.

He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.--As heard and understood at the time, the baptism with the Holy Ghost would imply that the souls thus baptised would be plunged, as it were, in that creative and informing Spirit which was the source of life and holiness and wisdom. The baptism "with fire" would convey, in its turn, the thought of a power at once destroying evil and purifying good; not, in any case, without the suffering that attends the contact of the sinner's soul with the "consuming fire" of the holiness of God, yet for those who had received the earlier baptism, and what it was meant to convey, consuming only what was evil, and leaving that which was precious brighter than before. The appearance of the "tongues like as of fire" that accompanied the gift of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was an outward visible sign, an extension of the symbolism, rather than the actual fulfilment of the promise.

Verse 11. - (Cf, especially John 1:27; Acts 13:25; also Acts 19:4.) After our ver. 10 St. Luke inserts details of the various kinds of fruit that repentance ought to produce, suggested by the questions of different portions of the Baptist's audience; and then, with an explanatory note that John's words were due to a misconception having arisen that he was himself the Messiah, he adds what we have in vers. 11, 12. But even if vers. 0-12 were, in fact, not said consecutively, yet their juxtaposition here may be defended by the real connexion between the statements. In ver. 10 John has spoken of the present danger of his audience; he therefore now urges repentance, and that in view of the coming of One who will sift them to the uttermost. With water; in, Revised Version margin (ἐν), and so in the second part of the verse. The thought is not of the instrument by which the baptism is effected, but of the element in which it takes place. "In" suggests more complete submergence of the personality. But he that cometh after me. The expression would recall the thought of" the Coming One" - a common designation of Messiah (Matthew 11:3; Matthew 21:9). Is mightier than I. Not in authority (the next clause), nor in honour (John 1:30), but in inherent strength and power. Whose shoes. Though shoes or boots were usual in the winter, at all events later, and probably also now (cf. Edersheim, 'Life,' 1:621), yet sandals are doubtless meant. "In the LXX. and Josephus σανδάλιον (Mark 6:9; Acts 12:8) and ὑπόδημα [here] are used indiscriminately" (Thayer). Worthy. In moral sufficiency (ἱκανός) , and so in the parallels, but (ἄξιος) in moral desert in John 1:27. To bear; complementary to "loosen" in the parallel passages. The duty of slaves of the lowest rank. The distance of superiority here attributed by John to "him that cometh after me," must be reckoned even greater than it usually is; for most of the slaves then held by Jewish masters would not be Jews, but Gentiles. The thought is, "I am further removed from my successor than the meanest Gentile slave is from his Jewish master." Some have seen in this expression a reference to the practice of disciples carrying the shoes of their teachers (Edersheim, 'Life,' 1:272), but this can hardly have been general so early. He. The emphasis is made the more evident by the absence of any connecting particle. Shall baptize you. "The transference of the image of baptism to the impartment of the Holy Spirit was prepared by such passages as Joel 2:28 (Acts 2:17)" (Bishop Westcott, on John 1:33); comp. also Ezekiel 36:25-27, where the symbol of cleansing by water and the gift of the Holy Spirit are closely connected. With the Holy Ghost, and with fire (ἐν Πνεύματιυ Ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί). To the visible John contrasts the invisible, to the symbol of water the reality of the Spirit; adding (here and in the parallel passage in Luke) to this, which forms the main point of the contrast (cf. Mark 1:8; John 1:33), the thought of Malachi 3:2, purification as by fire; and, by not placing it under the government of another preposition (which would have necessitated the conception of it as a distinct element) implying that it is only another aspect of one and the same baptism. It has been questioned, indeed, whether "fire" here refers to the purification of the godly who truly accept the baptism of the Spirit, or to the destruction of the wicked, as in vers. 10, 12. But the thought is one. The Divine presence will in fact, as is recognized by Isaiah (Isaiah 33:14; Isaiah 31:9), be twofold in its working, according as it is yielded to or the reverse. It burns away sin out of the godly, and it consumes the ungodly if they cleave to their sin.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
I
Ἐγὼ (Egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

baptize
βαπτίζω (baptizō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 907: Lit: I dip, submerge, but specifically of ceremonial dipping; I baptize.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
0
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

with
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

water
ὕδατι (hydati)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5204: Water. And genitive case, hudatos, etc. From the base of huetos; water literally or figuratively.

for
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

repentance,
μετάνοιαν (metanoian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3341: From metanoeo; compunction; by implication, reversal (another's) decision).

but
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

after
ὀπίσω (opisō)
Preposition
Strong's 3694: Behind, after; back, backwards. From the same as opisthen with enclitic of direction; to the back, i.e. Aback.

me
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

will come
ἐρχόμενος (erchomenos)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

[One]
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

more powerful
ἰσχυρότερός (ischyroteros)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular - Comparative
Strong's 2478: Strong (originally and generally of physical strength); mighty, powerful, vehement, sure. From ischus; forcible.

than I,
μού (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

whose
οὗ (hou)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

sandals
ὑποδήματα (hypodēmata)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 5266: A sandal; anything bound under. From hupodeo; something bound under the feet, i.e. A shoe or sandal.

I am
εἰμὶ (eimi)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

not
οὐκ (ouk)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

worthy
ἱκανὸς (hikanos)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2425: From hiko; competent, i.e. Ample or fit.

to carry.
βαστάσαι (bastasai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 941: Perhaps remotely derived from the base of basis; to lift, literally or figuratively.

He
αὐτὸς (autos)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

will baptize
βαπτίσει (baptisei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 907: Lit: I dip, submerge, but specifically of ceremonial dipping; I baptize.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

with
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

[the] Holy
Ἁγίῳ (Hagiō)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 40: Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred. From hagos; sacred.

Spirit
Πνεύματι (Pneumati)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4151: Wind, breath, spirit.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

with fire.
πυρί (pyri)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4442: Fire; the heat of the sun, lightning; fig: strife, trials; the eternal fire. A primary word; 'fire'.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you in water (Matt. Mat Mt)
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