Since the murder of the innocents at Bethlehem, he had lived in the wilderness, dwelling in a cave high up in the rocks of the mountain.

It almost seemed that he loved wild beasts better than men, whose cloak of virtue he hated because it was woven out of evil-smelling hypocrisy and wickedness.
They called him the herald.

"We are surprised," they said, "that the Rabbis and High Priests in Capernaum, Tiberias, and Jerusalem should keep silent.

They could put this man to death for his words." But the herald had no fear.

He preached a new doctrine, and he poured water over the heads of those who joined him as a sign of the covenant.
"And what is his teaching ?" asked others.
"Go and hear for yourselves!" And so more and more people went out from Judaea and Galilee into the wilderness.