Luke 3:5

Verse

Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.

American Standard Version (1901)

Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall become straight, And the rough ways smooth;

Bible in Basic English

Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;

Douay-Rheims 1899

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 plain;

Free Bible Version

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. Crooked ways will be straightened, and rough roads will be smoothed.

Geneva Bible 1599

Euery valley shalbe filled, and euery mountaine and hill shall be brought lowe, and crooked things shalbe made straight, and the rough wayes shalbe made smoothe.

King James (Authorized) Version

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;

One Unity Resource Bible

Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Translation for Translators

Just like people level off all the places where the land rises and just like they fill all the ravines, and just like people make the road straight wherever it is crooked, and just like people make smooth the bumps in the road, similarly you need to remove all the obstacles which prevent God from blessing you!

Unlocked Literal Bible

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the crooked roads will be made straight, and the uneven places will be built into roads,

Noah Webster 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;

World English Bible

Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Young's Literal Translation

every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straightness, and the rough become smooth ways;

Context

The Mission of John the Baptist

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. ⁵Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. ⁶And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’”

Sermons

Let the People Renew Their Strength

C.H. Spurgeon

Summary

Luke 3:5 highlights the message of John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord by calling for repentance and a change of heart. The verse emphasizes the importance of spiritual readiness and the removal of obstacles that hinder a relationship with God. By leveling mountains and filling valleys, John's message symbolizes the need to remove pride and self-righteousness while embracing humility and a willingness to receive the Lord. This verse serves as a reminder for believers to prepare their hearts for the coming of Jesus, both in His earthly ministry and His eventual return.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Every they shall be filled - All hinderances shall be taken out of the way: a quotation from the Greek version of Isa 40:4, containing an allusion to the preparations made in rough countries to facilitate the march of mighty kings and conquerors. See the instance produced on Mat 3:3 (note).

John Gill Bible Commentary

Every valley shall be filled,.... Luke cites more out of the same prophecy, as relating to the times of John the Baptist, and the Messiah, than the other Evangelists Matthew and Mark do: in the prophet it is, "every valley shall be exalted"; which is done, by filling it up; the metaphor is persisted in, of preparing and clearing the way, for the coming of the Messiah, done by the ministry of John; under which, such souls as were lowly and humble, and depressed with the sense of sin, should be raised and directed to believe in Christ, and be filled with divine consolation from him. These words are owned by the Jews (o) to belong to the world to come; that is, the times of the Messiah; though they understand them, of making way for the return of the Israelites from captivity, by the Messiah: just as they suppose such things were done by the miraculous cloud, for the children of Israel, as they passed through the wilderness; of which they say (p), "that it went before them, smote the serpents and scorpions, and fiery serpents, and the rock; and if there was any low place, it raised it up; or high place, it made it low, and caused them to be plain; as it is said, Isa 40:3 "And every valley shall be exalted", &c.'' But what they say of this cloud literally, as preparing the way for the Israelites, is in a spiritual sense true, of the ministry of John; whereby many of the children of Israel, had the way prepared for them, for the reception of the Messiah; when as every humble soul had its expectation raised, and its faith encouraged, and its heart filled with spiritual joy; so such as were proud and haughty, were humbled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; all such as are elated with their own abilities, and boast of their righteousness, trust in themselves, and look with disdain and contempt on others, their loftiness shall be bowed down, and their haughtiness made low; and the Messiah alone, in his person, grace, and righteousness, be exalted: and the crooked shall be made straight: such as are of a crooked spirit, and walk in crooked ways, with the workers of iniquity, shall have new spirits given them, and be directed to right ways, and be led in the paths of righteousness and truth: and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and men of rough tempers, comparable to lions and bears, shall become quiet and peaceable, smooth and easy; and moreover, whatever difficulties were in the minds of men concerning the Messiah, the end of his coming, and the nature of his kingdom; and whatever impediments were in the way of embracing him when come, should now be removed at least from many persons: R. David Kimchi, a very noted Jewish commentator (q), acknowledges that the whole of this passage is to be understood, , "by way of parable", in a mystical and figurative sense. (o) T. Hieros. Erubin, fol. 25. 2. (p) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 177. 1, 2. Vid. Targ. in Cant. ii. 6. & Jarchi in Cant. iii. 6. (q) In Isa. xl. 4.

Luke 3:5

The Mission of John the Baptist

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.

American Standard Version (1901)

Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall become straight, And the rough ways smooth;

Bible in Basic English

Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;

Douay-Rheims 1899

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 plain;

Free Bible Version

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. Crooked ways will be straightened, and rough roads will be smoothed.

Geneva Bible 1599

Euery valley shalbe filled, and euery mountaine and hill shall be brought lowe, and crooked things shalbe made straight, and the rough wayes shalbe made smoothe.

King James (Authorized) Version

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;

One Unity Resource Bible

Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Translation for Translators

Unlocked Literal Bible

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the crooked roads will be made straight, and the uneven places will be built into roads,

Noah Webster 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;

World English Bible

Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Young's Literal Translation

every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straightness, and the rough become smooth ways;

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Luke 3:5

Verse

Context

The Mission of John the Baptist

Sermons

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Luke 3:5

The Mission of John the Baptist

Let the People Renew Their Strength

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary