In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when
Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of
Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea
and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the
high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to
John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the
region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of
the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in
the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and
hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.” ’ Translation: But in the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of
Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, but Philip, his
brother, being tetrarch of t