As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
Parallel translations
- WEB As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you:
- KJV As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
- NKJV As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.”
- NASB just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending My messenger before You, Who will prepare Your way;
- NLT just as the prophet Isaiah had written: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way.
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
Mark grounds Jesus' coming in prophecy, quoting God's promise to send a messenger to prepare His way. The gospel is the fulfillment of long-awaited Scripture.
Overview
Mark blends Malachi 3:1 with Isaiah 40:3 (under the heading 'the prophets') to show John the Baptist as the forerunner. The 'messenger' prepares the way before a coming Lord, underscoring that Jesus' arrival was no accident but the climax of God's plan. Strikingly, words spoken of preparing the way for the LORD (Yahweh) are applied to Jesus, quietly affirming His divine identity.
Cross-references & the web
Quotation
- 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.
Cross-references · 13
- 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.
- Matt 11:10This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
- Luke 1:76And 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,
- Matt 3:1–11In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
- Luke 1:15–17for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
- 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.’
- Ps 40:7Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll:
- Matt 26:31Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
- Luke 1:70as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,
- Matt 2:5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
- Matt 26:24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
- Luke 3:2–16during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
- Luke 18:31Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 1:2 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.