¹And in those days cometh John the Baptist, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,

¹በዚያም ወራት መጥምቁ ዮሐንስ። መንግሥተ ሰማያት ቀርባለችና ንስሐ ግቡ ብሎ በይሁዳ ምድረ በዳ እየሰበከ መጣ።

²and saying, `Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,`

³በነቢዩ በኢሳይያስ። የጌታን መንገድ አዘጋጁ ጥርጊያውንም አቅኑ እያለ በምድረ በዳ የሚጮህ ሰው ድምፅ የተባለለት ይህ ነውና።

³for this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, `A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.`

⁴ራሱም ዮሐንስ የግመል ጠጉር ልብስ ነበረው፥ በወገቡም ጠፍር ይታጠቅ ነበር፤ ምግቡም አንበጣና የበረሀ ማር ነበረ።

⁴And this John had his clothing of camel`s hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and honey of the field.

⁵ያን ጊዜ ኢየሩሳሌም ይሁዳም ሁሉ በዮርዳኖስም ዙሪያ ያለ አገር ሁሉ ወደ እርሱ ይወጡ ነበር፤

⁵Then were going forth unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan,

⁶ኃጢአታቸውንም እየተናዘዙ በዮርዳኖስ ወንዝ ከእርሱ ይጠመቁ ነበር።

⁶and they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.

⁷ዳሩ ግን ከፈሪሳውያንና ከሰዱቃውያን ብዙዎች ወደ ጥምቀቱ ሲመጡ ባየ ጊዜ፥ እንዲህ አላቸው። እናንተ የእፉኝት ልጆች፥ ከሚመጣው ቍጣ እንድትሸሹ ማን አመለከታችሁ?

⁷And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, `Brood of vipers! who did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?

⁸እንግዲህ ለንስሐ የሚገባ ፍሬ አድርጉ፤

⁸bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation,

⁹በልባችሁም። አብርሃም አባት አለን እንደምትሉ አይምሰላችሁ፤ እላችኋለሁና። ከነዚህ ድንጋዮች ለአብርሃም ልጆች ሊያስነሣለት እግዚአብሔር ይችላል።

⁹and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have — Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham,

¹⁰አሁንስ ምሳር በዛፎች ሥር ተቀምጦአል፤ እንግዲህ መልካም ፍሬ የማያደርግ ዛፍ ሁሉ ይቈረጣል ወደ እሳትም ይጣላል።

¹⁰and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.

¹¹እኔስ ለንስሐ በውኃ አጠምቃችኋለሁ፤ ጫማውን እሸከም ዘንድ የማይገባኝ ከእኔ በኋላ የሚመጣው ግን ከእኔ ይልቅ ይበረታል፤ እርሱ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ በእሳትም ያጠምቃችኋል፤

¹¹`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,

¹²መንሹም በእጁ ነው፥ አውድማውንም ፈጽሞ ያጠራል፥ ስንዴውንም በጎተራው ይከታል፥ ገለባውን ግን በማይጠፋ እሳት ያቃጥለዋል።

¹²whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.`

¹³ያን ጊዜ ኢየሱስ በዮሐንስ ሊጠመቅ ከገሊላ ወደ ዮርዳኖስ መጣ።

¹³Then cometh Jesus from Galilee upon the Jordan, unto John to be baptized by him,

¹⁴ዮሐንስ ግን። እኔ በአንተ ልጠመቅ ያስፈልገኛል አንተም ወደ እኔ ትመጣለህን? ብሎ ይከለክለው ነበር።

¹⁴but John was forbidding him, saying, `I have need by thee to be baptized — and thou dost come unto me!`

¹⁵ኢየሱስም መልሶ። አሁንስ ፍቀድልኝ፤ እንዲህ ጽድቅን ሁሉ መፈጸም ይገባናልና አለው። ያን ጊዜ ፈቀደለት።

¹⁵But Jesus answering said to him, `Suffer now, for thus it is becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness,` then he doth suffer him.

¹⁶ኢየሱስም ከተጠመቀ በኋላ ወዲያው ከውኃ ወጣ፤ እነሆም፥ ሰማያት ተከፈቱ የእግዚአብሔርም መንፈስ እንደ ርግብ ሲወርድ በእርሱ ላይም ሲመጣ አየ፤

¹⁶And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him,

¹⁷እነሆም፥ ድምፅ ከሰማያት መጥቶ። በእርሱ ደስ የሚለኝ የምወደው ልጄ ይህ ነው አለ።

¹⁷and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, `This is My Son — the Beloved, in whom I did delight.`