Matthew 3:14 - Plain English Version

¹⁴ But John didn’t agree with him. He said, “No. Don’t come to me. I can’t baptise you. You are better than me, so really, you have to baptise me.”

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁴ But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁴ But John protested strenuously, having in mind to prevent Him, saying, It is I who have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁴ But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

Common English Bible

¹⁴ John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁴ But John refused him, saying, "I ought to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?"

Matthew 3:14 Cross References

Matthew 3:13

At that time, Jesus left his home in Galilee country, and he went south to the Jordan River. Jesus wanted John to baptise him.

Matthew 3:15

But Jesus said, “We have to do it the way God wants. So now, while you are baptising people, you can baptise me too.” Then John agreed with him.

Luke 1:43

I’m not important, but you are the mother of my leader, the man from God. It is really good of you to visit me.

John 1:16

That man is really good. And when he came, he was really good to us. He is like that. He is good to us all the time, even when we do nothing good for him.

Romans 1:13

You know, friends, I tried to come and see you lots of times, but God stopped me every time. I want to come and work there with you and get more people to follow Jesus, just like I do at other places.

Romans 3:23

We all went the wrong way, and we did bad things. Nobody is properly good, like God wants us to be.

Romans 3:25

God sent Jesus to die for us, so that, if we believe that Jesus died for us, God isn’t angry with us any more. Jesus let people kill him, and his blood came out, so now, if we trust him, God says we are all right. That shows that God was right and fair in the past, at those times when he didn’t punish people for the bad things they did.

Galatians 3:22

God says in his book that everyone does bad things. They can’t stop doing those bad things. But if we listen to what God promises us, and if we believe in Jesus Christ, he will save us.

Galatians 4:6

And when we became God’s kids, he sent his son’s spirit to live right inside us. His spirit in us gets us to call out to God, “My Dad, you are my father.”