Matthew 3:12

He is like a farmer who wants to clear away the grain that is on the ground where it has been threshed { they have threshed it}. That farmer uses a huge fork to throw the grain into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff [MET], and then he cleans up the threshing area. Similarly, God will separate righteous people from the evil people like a farmer who gathers the wheat into his storage area, and then God will burn the people who are like chaff with a fire that will never be put out [MET].”

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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 chaff with unquenchable fire.

In Context

11“As for me, I am not very important, because I baptize you only with water. I baptize you because of your feeling sorry that you have sinned. But someone else will come soon who is very great; he will do powerful deeds (OR, act powerfully). Because he is superior to me, I am not worthy even to do a menial task for him, such as to carry his sandals. He will put his Holy Spirit within you to truly change the way you live [MET], and he will judge others of you and punish you in the fire in hell.

13During that time, Jesus went from Galilee District to the Jordan River, where John was. He did that in order to be baptized by John {in order to ask that John would baptize him}.

Read all of Matthew 3

Cross References

Job 21:18He does not blow them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.

Psalms 35:5Send your angel to pursue them, and as a result cause them to disappear like chaff/straw blown away by the wind!

Isaiah 5:24Therefore, just like [SIM] fires burn up stubble and dry grass shrivels up and quickly burns in flames, it will be as though those people have roots that will rot and have flowers that will wither. That will happen because they rejected the laws of the Commander of the armies of angels; they have despised the messages of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 28:28And grain for baking bread is crushed easily, so the farmers do not continue to pound it for a long time. They sometimes cause their horses to pull a cart over it to thresh it, but doing that does not grind the grain.

Isaiah 41:16You will toss them up into the air, and a strong wind will blow them away [DOU]. When that happens, you will rejoice about what I have done for you; you will praise me, the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 4:11When that happens, Yahweh will say to the people of Jerusalem, “A huge army will come to attack you. They will not be like a gentle breeze that separates wheat from chaff. They will be like a very hot wind that blows in from the desert [MET].

Matthew Henry on Matthew 3:8-13

The Preaching of John the Baptist. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not… Read the whole commentary →

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