⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you^{(A) 10} and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.^{[a](B) 11} I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”^{(C) 12} God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:^{(D) 13} I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.^{(E) 14} When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.^{(F) 16} When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”^{(G) 17} God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered^[a] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you^[b] to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,^{(A) 19} in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water.^{(B) 21} And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for^[c] a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^{(C) 22} who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.^(D)

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.^{(A) 10} And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.^{(B) 11} And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^[a] with you I am well pleased.”^(C)

The Testing of Jesus

¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news^[b] of^[c] God^{(D) 15} and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;^[d] repent, and believe in the good news.”^[e](E)