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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 40

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says God. 2 Speak, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double the amount of her sins. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,⁠ Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.⁠ 4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.⁠ 5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God:⁠ for the Lord has spoken it. 6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:⁠ 7 The grass withers, and the flower fades: 8 but the word of our God remains for ever. 9 you that bring glad news to Zion, go up on the high mountain; lift up your voice with strength, you that bring glad news to Jerusalem; lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, Look at your God! 10 Look, the Lord is coming with strength, and his arm is with power: look, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall soothe those who are with young. 12 Who has measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and the forests in a balance? 13 Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counselor, to instruct him? 14 Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? or who has taught him judgment, or who has taught him the way of understanding; 15 since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle? 16 And Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering: 17 and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing. 18 To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him? 19 Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, and made it a likeness? 20 For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will wisely inquire how he shall set up his image, and so that it should not be moved. 21 Will you not know? will you not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have you not known the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in: 23 he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing. 24 For they shall not sow, neither shall they plant, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks. 25 Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these things? even he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by means of his great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you. 27 For do not say, Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel,⁠ saying, My way is hidden from God, and my God has taken away my judgment, and has departed? 28 And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to those who are not suffering. 30 For the young men shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice men shall be powerless: 31 but they that wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 40:4 and Luke 3:5

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Luke 3 follows the Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah 40, echoing its language of valleys being filled, mountains lowered, and paths made straight in its narrative of John the Baptist, showing how the New Testament often relies on Greek translations.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 40:4

Septuagint
2 Speak, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double the amount of her sins. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. 4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it. 6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Luke 3:5

New Testament
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth, 6 and all humanity will see the salvation of God.’” 7 So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... In all four Gospels it is John the Baptist who initiates the new work of the Spirit in the announcement of the imminence of the kingdom. All three Synoptics associate John with the prophecy in Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me.” Mark adds Isaiah 40:3, another passage that alludes to salvation and apocalyptic fulfillment: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:3). Luke continues by quoting apocalyptic words from Isaiah 40:4–5: “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:5–6) ..."
Donald A. Hagner, The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 70–71.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Isaiah 40:4 and Luke 3:5

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