Isaiah 40:1-5

New International Version

Comfort for God’s People

40 Comfort, comfort^(A) my people,
    says your God.
²Speak tenderly^(B) to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service^(C) has been completed,^(D)
    that her sin has been paid for,^(E)
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double^(F) for all her sins.

³A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way^(G) for the Lord^[a];
make straight^(H) in the desert
    a highway for our God.^[b]^(I)
⁴Every valley shall be raised up,^(J)
    every mountain and hill^(K) made low;
the rough ground shall become level,^(L)
    the rugged places a plain.
⁵And the glory^(M) of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.^(N)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”^(O)

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Footnotes

Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one calling in the wilderness: / “Prepare the way for the Lord
Isaiah 40:3 Hebrew; Septuagint make straight the paths of our God

Luke 1:57-66

New International Version

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹On the eighth day they came to circumcise^(A) the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”^(B)

⁶¹They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶²Then they made signs^(C) to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”^(D) ⁶⁴Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak,^(E) praising God. ⁶⁵All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea^(F) people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.^(G)