# When all the people heard this, including the tax collectors, they declared that God is righteous, because they had been baptized with the baptism of John This verse could be reordered to be more clear. Alternate translation: "When all the people who had been baptized by John, including the tax collectors, heard this, they declared that God is righteous" # because they had been baptized with the baptism of John "because they had let John baptize them" or "because John had baptized them"