King James Version · Under Rome
Matthew 3
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In those days came , preaching in of , And saying, ye: for of is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the , saying, The voice of one crying in , Prepare ye of , make his straight. And the same had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was and wild honey. Then went out to him , and all , and all the region round about Jordan, And were of him in Jordan, confessing their . But when he saw many of the and come to his , he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for : And think not to say within yourselves, We have to : for I say unto you, that is able of these stones to raise up children unto . And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the . I indeed you with water unto : but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose I am not worthy to bear: he shall you with the Ghost, and with : Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the with unquenchable . Then cometh from to Jordan unto , to be of him. But forbad him, saying, I have need to be of thee, and comest thou to me? And answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all . Then he suffered him. And , when he was , went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, were opened unto him, and he saw of descending like a , and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from , saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.