11 translations · Hebrew
Isaiah 40:3
The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
Isaiah 40:3 in 11 translations
- WEB World English Bible
- The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Berean Standard Bible
- A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- ASV American Standard Version
- The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.
- LSV Literal Standard Version
- A voice is crying in a wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH, || Make straight in a desert a highway for our God.
- FBV Free Bible Version
- A voice is heard calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight highway for our God through the desert.
- YLT Young’s Literal Translation
- A voice is crying — in a wilderness — Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.
- DBY Darby Translation
- The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God!
- WBT Webster’s Bible
- 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.
- WEBC World English Bible (Catholic)
- The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
- DRA Douay-Rheims 1899
- The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God.
The Hebrew words
Each word of the Hebrew text in order, with its transliteration, the Berean Standard Bible’s English for it, and its Strong’s number and short definition.
| Word | Transliteration | English (BSB) | Strong’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| ק֣וֹל | qō·wl | A voice | H6963 קוֹל voice |
| קוֹרֵ֔א | qō·w·rê | of one calling | H7121 קָרָא to call: call to |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֕ר | bam·miḏ·bār | in the wilderness | H4057 מִדְבָּר mouth |
| פַּנּ֖וּ | pan·nū | Prepare | H6437 פָּנָה to turn |
| דֶּ֣רֶךְ | de·reḵ | the way | H1870 דֶּ֫רֶךְ way: conduct |
| יְהוָ֑ה | Yah·weh | for the LORD | H3068 יְהֹוָה LORD |
| יַשְּׁרוּ֙ | yaš·šə·rū | make a straight | H3474 יָשַׁר to smooth |
| בָּעֲרָבָ֔ה | bā·‘ă·rā·ḇāh | in the desert | H6160 עֲרָבָה Arabah |
| מְסִלָּ֖ה | mə·sil·lāh | highway | H4546 מְסִלָּה highway |
| לֵאלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ | lê·lō·hê·nū | for our God | H430 אֱלֹהִים God |
Related verses
- Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Mark 1:2–5
As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you: the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!’” John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. …
- John 1:23
He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
- Matthew 3:1–3
In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.”
- Luke 1:16–17
He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
- Luke 1:76–77
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
- Malachi 4:5–6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
- Isaiah 57:14
He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
- Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Isaiah 62:10–11
Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people! Build up, build up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples. Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’”
Cross references from OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0, most-voted first; text from the World English Bible.
In context
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
2 “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”
3 The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
Read all of Isaiah 40 in the World English Bible.
Edition and source notes
Each translation is shown as its source prints it, in its own verse numbering; where an edition numbers this verse differently, its own reference is given. The World English Bible, King James Version and Berean Standard Bible link to their chapter pages. Edition notes.
Literal Standard Version (2020) © Covenant Press and the Covenant Christian Coalition, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. Imported from the checksum-pinned eBible.org USFX source; the extracted verse text is an adaptation shared under the same license. Free Bible Version (2018) © Dr. Jonathan Gallagher, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. Imported from the checksum-pinned eBible.org USFX source; the extracted verse text is an adaptation shared under the same license.
The original words and their English come from the Berean Standard Bible translation tables (public domain); lemmas and short definitions from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0), with Greek definitions based on Abbott-Smith.
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