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Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
    for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
    for our God!

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23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
    ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1:23 Isa 40:3.

just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    and he will prepare your way.[a]
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!’[b]

This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:2 Mal 3:1.
  2. 1:3 Isa 40:3 (Greek version).

The Coming Day of Judgment

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[a] The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!’”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:2 Or has come, or is coming soon.
  2. 3:3 Isa 40:3 (Greek version).

16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,[a] and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:17 See Mal 4:5-6.

“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

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76 “And you, my little son,
    will be called the prophet of the Most High,
    because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
    through forgiveness of their sins.

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God Forgives the Repentant

14 God says, “Rebuild the road!
    Clear away the rocks and stones
    so my people can return from captivity.”

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19 For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

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10 Go out through the gates!
    Prepare the highway for my people to return!
Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders;
    raise a flag for all the nations to see.
11 The Lord has sent this message to every land:
    “Tell the people of Israel,[a]
‘Look, your Savior is coming.
    See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 62:11 Hebrew Tell the daughter of Zion.

And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
    It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
    It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
    fools will never walk there.

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Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!
The valleys will be filled,
    and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
    and the rough places made smooth.
And then all people will see
    the salvation sent from God.’”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:4-6 Isa 40:3-5 (Greek version).

11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
    The highways will be raised above the valleys.

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Sing praises to God and to his name!
    Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.[a]
His name is the Lord
    rejoice in his presence!

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Footnotes

  1. 68:4 Or rides through the deserts.

15 The Lord will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea.[a]
    He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River,[b]
sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams
    so it can easily be crossed on foot.
16 He will make a highway for the remnant of his people,
    the remnant coming from Assyria,
just as he did for Israel long ago
    when they returned from Egypt.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:15a Hebrew will destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt.
  2. 11:15b Hebrew the river.

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