4 John wore clothes made from the hair of a camel. He also wore a belt made from leather. His usual food was locusts and honey from the wilderness.
3:4A camel is a large animal that lives in the wilderness.
5 Many people went to listen to John. They lived in Jerusalem and all the other places in Judea and near the Jordan River. 6 The people agreed that they had done wrong things. Then John baptized them in the Jordan River.
3:5The Jordan River went from Galilee in the north to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) in the south.
7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to John. They wanted John to baptize them. He said to them, ‘You are like dangerous snakes. God is angry. You are trying to run away from him. But he will soon punish people like you. 8 You have to show that you are sorry. Change how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. 9 Do not say to yourselves, “We are in the family of Abraham. God will surely not punish us.” Listen! God can take these stones and use them to make children for Abraham! 10 You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire.
3:7The Pharisees were a group of Jews. They thought that they obeyed all God's rules. The Sadducees were also an important group of Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus.
