Jesus you are baptised by John; help me to repent.

1) A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God...' then the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it.

2) John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand'.

3) People from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

4) He said to the crowds who came to be baptized, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits.’

5) I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

6) Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

7) Jesus came to be baptised by John, but John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’. But Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so for now, it is fitting that we should in this way do all that righteousness demands’.

8) As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.

9) And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him’.

10) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil after forty days of fasting.