“ I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

万军之耶和华说：“我要差遣我的使者在我前面预备道路。你们所寻求的主必忽然进入他的殿；立约的使者，就是你们所仰慕的，快要来到。”

万军之耶和华说：“看哪，我要差遣我的使者在我前面预备道路。你们所寻求的主必忽然来到他的殿；立约的使者，就是你们所仰慕的，看哪，快要来到。”

万军之耶和华说：“看哪，我要差遣我的使者在我前面预备道路。你们所寻求的主必忽然来到他的殿；立约的使者，就是你们所仰慕的，看哪，快要来到。”

万军之耶和华说：“我要差遣我的使者为我开路。你们所寻求的主必突然来到祂的殿中。你们所期盼的那位立约的使者快要来了！”

万军之耶和华说：“看哪！我派我的使者，在我前面预备道路；你们所寻求的主，必忽然进入他的殿；你们所爱慕立约的使者，就要来到。”

万军之耶和华说：“看哪，我要派遣我的使者在我前面预备道路！你们所寻求的主，必突然来到他的殿；看哪，你们所喜悦的那立约的使者，就要来到！”

萬軍之耶和華說：「我要差遣我的使者在我前面預備道路。你們所尋求的主必忽然進入他的殿；立約的使者，就是你們所仰慕的，快要來到。」

萬軍之耶和華說：「看哪，我要差遣我的使者在我前面預備道路。你們所尋求的主必忽然來到他的殿；立約的使者，就是你們所仰慕的，看哪，快要來到。」

萬軍之耶和華說：「看哪，我要差遣我的使者在我前面預備道路。你們所尋求的主必忽然來到他的殿；立約的使者，就是你們所仰慕的，看哪，快要來到。」

萬軍之耶和華說：「我要差遣我的使者為我開路。你們所尋求的主必突然來到祂的殿中。你們所期盼的那位立約的使者快要來了！」

萬軍之耶和華說：“看哪！我派我的使者，在我前面預備道路；你們所尋求的主，必忽然進入他的殿；你們所愛慕立約的使者，就要來到。”

『看吧，我將要差遣我的使者在我前面豫備道路；你們所尋求的主必忽然進入他的殿堂；你們所愛慕的、盟約的使者、看哪，他快來了！萬軍之永恆主說。

萬軍之耶和華說：「看哪，我要派遣我的使者在我前面預備道路！你們所尋求的主，必突然來到他的殿；看哪，你們所喜悅的那立約的使者，就要來到！」

萬軍之耶和華曰、我遣我使備路於我前、爾所求之主、必忽臨厥殿、盟約之使、爾所慕者、將至矣、

萬有之主耶和華曰、我遣使者、備道於我前、爾所求所悅之上主、盟約之天使、果將至矣、率入厥殿、

萬有之主曰、我將遣我使者、備道於我前、爾所求之主、將忽至其殿、盟約之天使、爾所慕者、視哉速至、爾所求之主將忽至其殿盟約之天使爾所慕者視哉速至或作爾曹所尋求之主立約之天使爾所迎慕者必忽入其殿必速涖臨

The Lord who rules over all says,“ I will send my messenger. He will prepare my way for me. Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant will come. He is the one you long for.”

“ 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 in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

“ Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“ See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in— see, he is coming,” says the LORD of Armies.

“ Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies.

“ 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, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.

Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.

“ See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire— see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

“ I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the LORD who rules over all.

“ 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.

“ See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Paul said,“ John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

“ For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“ I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—“ a voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘ Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The disciples asked him,“ Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”Jesus replied,“ To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

This is the one about whom it is written:“‘ I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.This is the one about whom it is written:“‘ I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord( as it is written in the Law of the Lord,“ Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”),and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord:“ a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:“ Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.For my eyes have seen your salvation,which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.

“ See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

A voice of one calling:“ In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.‘ The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.‘ The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty.‘ And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

You yourselves can testify that I said,‘ I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.He must become greater; I must become less.”

he sent them to the Lord to ask,“ Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”When the men came to Jesus, they said,“ John the Baptist sent us to you to ask,‘ Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous— to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.As 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.Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,‘ The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

The Lord says to my lord:“ Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.To those who sold doves he said,“ Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

Then he blessed Joseph and said,“ May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,the Angel who has delivered me from all harm— may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name!

Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.As John was completing his work, he said:‘ Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judeaand saying,“ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”This 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.’”

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

( John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying,“ This is the one I spoke about when I said,‘ He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely,“ I am not the Messiah.”They asked him,“ Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said,“ I am not.”“ Are you the Prophet?” He answered,“ No.”Finally they said,“ Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,“ I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘ Make straight the way for the Lord.’”