King James Bible
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
A herald announces God's coming from the desolate places outside civilization, where Israel's formative experiences with God occurred. The wilderness setting evokes both the Exodus journey and the place of spiritual preparation, emphasizing that divine intervention begins in unexpected, barren spaces. The herald commands active preparation for Yahweh's arrival, using imagery from ancient Near Eastern royal processions where roads were literally cleared for a king's journey. This shifts from announcing to mobilizing, calling the people to remove spiritual and physical obstacles before God's appearance. The command intensifies with specific engineering language—transforming the rough desert terrain into a smooth, direct path worthy of divine passage. This parallels Isaiah's broader message of restoration, where God will lead exiled Israel home through a transformed wilderness, reversing the chaos of judgment into ordered deliverance.