Matthew 3:11

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 Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — John the Baptist addresses a crowd at the Jordan, positioning his own ministry as preparatory and inferior to the One who follows him.

The words — βαπτίζω (baptizō, "baptize") is used for both John's water and the coming One's Spirit and fire, binding the two acts into a single structural parallel. μετάνοια (metanoia, "repentance") is stated as the purpose of John's baptism, not merely its occasion.

The thread — Luke 3:16 gives the parallel account; Acts 1:5 marks the fulfillment of the Spirit promise; Isaiah 4:4 anticipates the Lord's own cleansing work.

Why it lands — The verse pairs empowerment (Spirit) with judgment (fire) in the same breath, and the surrounding context (vv. 10–12) makes clear that the fire is the same fire that consumes unfruitful trees and chaff. It asks the reader to treat repentance as a present, urgent act rather than a future aspiration, and to take the coming One's work as both gift and division.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James 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:

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.
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.
Acts 1:5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
Mark 1:7 And he proclaimed: “After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
Acts 2:2 Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Titus 3:5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
John 1:33 I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’