Bible Strands
Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — An unnamed voice addresses the wilderness itself, immediately after the declaration that Jerusalem's forced labor is finished and her iniquity pardoned (v. 2). The moment is transitional: exile is over, and what follows is preparation for Yahweh's arrival.
The words — פּנוּ (pa.Nu, "make clear") and יַשְׁרוּ (ya.she.Ru, "make straight") are parallel imperatives with distinct force: one removes obstruction, the other corrects direction. Together they describe not a single act but a two-stage labor—clearing, then aligning.
The thread — The voice is identified as John the Baptist in Mark 1:2 and John 1:23, both of whom cite Malachi 3:1 as the underlying "messenger" text. The wilderness setting and the imperative to prepare the way form a fixed prophetic formula that the NT applies to baptismal preparation.
Why it lands — The verse is an imperative directed at the wilderness, not a description of it; the reader is placed inside the terrain that must be cleared and straightened. Preparation here is active, physical, and unfinished until the way is actually passable.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Cross-references
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Mark 1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
- John 1:23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet: “I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
- Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
- Luke 1:16 Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.
- Luke 1:76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Isaiah 57:14 And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
- Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 62:10 Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!