John 1:19-28
Chapter 1
John recognized the truth and did not deny it. He said:
“I am not the Messiah.”
And they asked him:
“Then who are you? Elijah?”
He answered:
“I am not.”
They said:
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered:
“No.”
Then they said to him:
“Tell us who you are so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”
And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice
of one crying out in the wilderness:
Make straight the way of the Lord!”
Those who had been sent were Pharisees;
and they put a further question to John:
“Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
John answered:
“I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know;
although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.”
This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.