⁴ That messenger was John the Baptist,^[b] who appeared in the desert near the Jordan River preaching that people should be ritually cleansed through baptism with water as a sign of both their changed hearts^[c] and God’s forgiveness of their sins. ⁵ People from across the countryside of Judea and from the city of Jerusalem came to him and confessed that they were deeply flawed and needed help, so he cleansed^[d] them with the waters of the Jordan.