King James Bible
"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;"
John the Baptist quotes Isaiah 40:4, using imagery of dramatic landscape transformation to announce the Messiah's arrival. In ancient times, road crews would level terrain for a king's procession—here symbolizing how God removes spiritual obstacles and humbles the proud to prepare hearts for Christ. The crooked paths represent moral corruption and deceptive practices that will be corrected through repentance and divine intervention. This transformation emphasizes the ethical renewal that accompanies the kingdom of God. Rough, difficult passages will become accessible paths, suggesting that what was once hard to traverse spiritually—access to God, understanding of truth—will be made clear and available to all through the coming Messiah.