(Luke, the author of this book, comments on how people responded to John and Jesus.)

## they declared that God is righteous ##

"they said that God had shown himself to be righteous" or "they declared that God had acted righteously"

## who had been baptized with the baptism of John ##

"who had been baptized by John" or "whom John had baptized"

## who were not baptized by him ##

"whom John had not baptized" or "who had refused to be baptized by John" or "who had rejected John's baptism"

## God's council for them ##

"God's purpose for them" or "God's plan for them" or "what God wanted them to do"

## rejected God's council for themselves ##

"chose to disobey what God told them" or "chose not to believe God's will"

## Who were not baptized by him, rejected God's counsel for themselves ##

This seems to imply that because they had rejected John's baptism, were not spiritually prepared to accept God's will for them.