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,
Parallel translations
- WEB 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,
- KJV And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
- NKJV “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
- NASB “And you, child, also will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
- NLT “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zechariah prophesies that his son John will be the prophet who prepares the way for the Lord. It matters because John's mission points directly to the coming Messiah.
Overview
Turning to address his infant son, Zechariah foretells John's role as the forerunner of the Lord. Echoing Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, John would go ahead to ready hearts for the Messiah. His greatness lies wholly in pointing beyond himself to Christ, before whose 'face' he goes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Mal 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.
- Isa 40:3–5A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- Mark 1:2–3As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
- Matt 14:5Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.
- Matt 3:3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”
- Matt 11:9–10What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
- John 1:23John 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.’”
- Acts 16:17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”
- Luke 1:32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- Mark 11:32But if we say, ‘From men’...” they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John truly was a prophet.
- Luke 1:35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
- John 3:28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’
- Ps 87:5And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.”
- Luke 6:35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
- Luke 1:16–17Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.
- Matt 21:26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”
- Matt 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Luke 7:27–28This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
- Acts 13:24–25Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
- Luke 3:4–6as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.
- John 1:27He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
- Mal 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:76 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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