As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.”
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.
- BSB As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
- 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 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.
Cross-references · 13
- 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.
- 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.’
- 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,
- Matt 3:1–11In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
- 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.
- Luke 7:27–28This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
- Ps 40:7Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
- Matt 26:31Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
- Luke 1:70(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),
- Matt 2:5They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
- Matt 26:24The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
- Luke 3:2–16in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
- Luke 18:31He took the twelve aside, and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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.