Greek
Φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ
Transliterated
phōnē boōntos en tē erēmō Hetoimasate tēn hodon Kyriou eutheias poieite tas tribous autou
Literal English
[The] voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of [the] Lord straight make the paths of Him’”
Bible Hub
English
3A voice of crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight!
Commentary
† An angelic voice cries out in the solitary place where there are no distractions of human society. While our way, and the way of Our Lord, is prepared for us by God and His messengers, we must participate, as we see in the imperative to prepare the way of the Lord. The word eutheias here means straight in the non-literal sense, in the sense of ethical uprightness, but it also contains the word-part euth-, which is related to euthys, meaning immediately: immediately straight, not crooked, not lazy nor delaying nor slothful. So the theme of immediacy continues with verse 1:3 where it says we must make no delay in preparing God's way within us, just as He has lovingly prepared our way for us.