This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.’
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
“Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way;
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”