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Matthew 3:7-12 ESV . . .But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (9) And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (10) Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (11) "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (12) His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

John here calls the Religionists of his day offspring of vipers, no doubt referring to their being in the service of Satan, the original serpent. (Rev 12:9 of 7-12) The people he was talking to were descendants of Abraham and a part of Judaism; which had been the previously acceptable form of worship to the One True God. Christ was replacing Judaism with Christianity; choosing people who would worship God in spirit and truth. (John 4:7-26; Gal 3:7-14) So, John told them not to rely on what they and/or their forefathers had previously thought, and some among them defiantly continued to think, was acceptable to God. (Mat 15:8-9) Like all of us today, they needed to listen to and put faith in Christ... Remaining part of what they had now, by rejecting Christ, turned into a religious sect would no longer help them. It will not help you. Religionists try to do you great harm. (Mat 24:11-14; Pro 1:10-15; Rom 16:17-20; Exo 23:1-3) To please our Father and gain life, you have to be a friend of Christ. (John 15:14 of 11-16) You can only become Jesus's friend by sitting at his feet; by reading his words over and over (Mark 3:31-35) to familiarity. (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) The fact you read them once or twice some time in the past might not qualify you as his friend... That is between you and God, of course! (Mal 3:16-4:3)

Matthew 3:7-12 CEV . . .Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them: You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? (8) Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. (9) And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. (10) An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire. (11) I baptize you with water so that you will give up your sins. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (12) His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in a barn and burn the husks in a fire that never goes out.

Matthew 3:7-12 LITV . . .But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Therefore, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. (9) And do not think to say within yourselves, We have a father, Abraham. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. (10) But already the axe is even laid at the root of the trees; therefore, any tree not bringing forth good fruit is cut off and is thrown into fire. (11) I indeed baptize you in water to repentance; but He who is coming after me is stronger than me, of whom I am not able to lift The sandals. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, (12) whose fan is in His hand, and He will cleanse His floor and will gather His wheat into the storehouse. But He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 3:7-12 GNB . . .When John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to be baptized, he said to them, "You snakes---who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? (8) Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. (9) And don't think you can escape punishment by saying that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham! (10) The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire. (11) I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. (12) He has his winnowing shovel with him to thresh out all the grain. He will gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out."

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You will note the reference windows often include more than one translation of the Bible. The reason is to strive to gain the best possible understanding of the original Hebrew and Greek. Since we don't speak those languages, we rely on those who have come before and made the effort to translate those texts into English for us. Considering several translations gives the benefit of the understanding of several translation committees or individuals.
The Translations we quote are:

ALT - Analytical Literal Translation

ASV - American Standard Version (by the American revision committee in 1897).

BBE - 1965 Bible in Basic English

Bishops - 1568 Bishop's Bible

Calvin - 1856 by Calvin Translation Society

CEV - Contemporary English Version

Coverdale - 1535 Miles Coverdale Bible

Darby - 1889 Darby Bible

DRB - 1899 Douay-Rheims Bible

ESV - English Standard Version

GNB - Good News Bible

GW - God's Word Bible

ISV - International Standard Version

KJV - 1769 King James Version

KJV-1611 - Old King James Version from 1611

LitNT - Literal New Testament

LITV - Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

MKJV - 1962 Modern King James Version

Murdock - 1851 James Murdock New Testament

MWT - Modern World Translation

NWT - New World Translation

RV - Revised Version

Webster - 1833 Webster Bible

WTNT - 1525-26 William Tyndale New Testament

Wycliffe - 1394 Wycliffe Bible

YLT - 1862/1898 Young's Literal Translation

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