Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/472

 He cried  aloud  to  all  the  people:  “Do  penance,  for  the kingdom of  heaven  is  at  hand!”  In  order  to  excite  his  hearers more efficaciously  to  repentance,  as  also  to  prepare  them  for Christian Baptism,  he  baptized  those  who  were  sorry  for  their sins, in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan. Then the  multitudes  came  to him  from  Jerusalem  and  Judaea  to  listen  to  his  preaching;  and many people  of  all  conditions,  after  hearing  him,  confessed  their sins and  were  baptized.

Some of  the  Sadducees  and  Pharisees  being  present  among the crowd,  John  addressed  them  sternly,  saying:  “Ye  brood  of vipers,  who  hath  shewed  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come? Bring forth,  therefore,  fruit  worthy  of  penance,  and  think  not  to say:  ‘We  have  Abraham  for  our  father’,  for  I tell  you  that  God is able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  to  Abraham. For now the  axe  is  laid  to  the  root  of  the  trees. Every tree,  therefore, that  yieldeth  not  good  fruit,  shall  be  cut  down  and  cast  into the fire.”