John 3:28

3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ ¹  but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’

Matthew 3:3

3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ² 

“The voice ³  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ⁴  his paths straight.’” ⁵ 

Mark 1:3

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ⁶  his paths straight.’” ⁷ 

Luke 1:16-17

1:16 He ⁸  will turn ⁹  many of the people ¹⁰  of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹¹  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ¹²  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Luke 1:76-79

1:76 And you, child, ¹³  will be called the prophet ¹⁴  of the Most High. ¹⁵ 

For you will go before ¹⁶  the Lord to prepare his ways, ¹⁷ 

1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation ¹⁸  through the forgiveness ¹⁹  of their sins.

1:78 Because of ²⁰  our God’s tender mercy ²¹ 

the dawn ²²  will break ²³  upon us from on high

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ²⁴ 

to guide our feet into the way ²⁵  of peace.”

Luke 3:4-6

3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice ²⁶  of one shouting in the wilderness: ²⁷ 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ²⁸  his paths straight.

3:5 Every valley will be filled, ²⁹ 

and every mountain and hill will be brought low,

and the crooked will be made straight,

and the rough ways will be made smooth,

3:6 and all humanity ³⁰  will see the salvation of God.’” ³¹ 

[3:28]  ¹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[3:3]  ² tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:3]  ³ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:3]  ⁴ sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[3:3]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:3]  ⁶ sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:3]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:16]  ⁹ sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

[1:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ¹² sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[1:76]  ¹³ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

[1:76]  ¹⁴ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

[1:76]  ¹⁵ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

[1:76]  ¹⁶ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

[1:76]  ¹⁷ tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.

[1:77]  ¹⁸ sn John’s role, to give his people knowledge of salvation, is similar to that of Jesus (Luke 3:1-14; 5:31-32).

[1:77]  ¹⁹ sn Forgiveness is another major Lukan theme (Luke 4:18; 24:47; Acts 10:37).

[1:78]  ²⁰ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ²¹ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ²² sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ²³ tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:79]  ²⁴ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ²⁵ tn Or “the path.”

[3:4]  ²⁶ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “desert.” The syntactic position of the phrase “in the wilderness” is unclear in both Luke and the LXX. The MT favors taking it with “Prepare a way,” while the LXX takes it with “a voice shouting.” If the former, the meaning would be that such preparation should be done “in the wilderness.” If the latter, the meaning would be that the place from where John’s ministry went forth was “in the wilderness.” There are Jewish materials that support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT while certain rabbinic texts favor the LXX (see D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:290-91). While it is not absolutely necessary that a call in the wilderness led to a response in the wilderness, it is not unlikely that such would be the case. Thus, in the final analysis, the net effect between the two choices may be minimal. In any case, a majority of commentators and translations take “in the wilderness” with “The voice of one shouting” (D. L. Bock; R. H. Stein, Luke [NAC], 129; I. H. Marshall, Luke [NIGTC], 136; NIV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, NASB, REB).

[3:4]  ²⁸ tn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance as the verb ποιέω (poiew) reappears in vv. 8, 10, 11, 12, 14.

[3:5]  ²⁹ sn The figurative language of this verse speaks of the whole creation preparing for the arrival of a major figure, so all obstacles to his approach are removed.

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “all flesh.”

[3:6]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3-5. Though all the synoptic gospels use this citation from Isaiah, only Luke cites the material of vv. 5-6. His goal may well be to get to the declaration of v. 6, where all humanity (i.e., all nations) see God’s salvation (see also Luke 24:47).