This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
Parallel translations
- WEB This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
- KJV This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
- BSB This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
- NKJV This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
- NLT John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’
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
Jesus identifies John as the messenger of Scripture sent to prepare the way before the Lord. John fulfills prophecy as the Messiah's forerunner.
Overview
Citing Malachi 3:1, Jesus declares John the promised messenger who prepares the Lord's coming. This makes John greater than earlier prophets, for he stands at the threshold of fulfillment. Strikingly, the prophecy spoke of preparing the way before God Himself, implying that in Jesus the Lord has come to His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mal 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.
- Luke 1:76And 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,
- Mark 1:2As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you:
- Matt 11:10For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
- John 1:23He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
- Luke 1:15–17For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
- Mal 4:5–6Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Isa 40:3The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:27 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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