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Reward of Fidelity. 20 See, I am sending an angel(A) before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority is within him.[a] 22 If you obey him and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:21 My authority is within him: lit., “My name is within him.”

    A voice proclaims:[a]
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
    Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 40:3–5 A description of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem (Zion). The language used here figuratively describes the way the exiles will take. The Lord leads them, so their way lies straight across the wilderness rather than along the well-watered routes usually followed from Mesopotamia to Israel. Mt 3:3 and gospel parallels adapt these verses to the witness of John the Baptizer to Jesus.

10 This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
    he will prepare your way before you.’(A)

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The Preaching of John the Baptist. (A)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:[a](B)

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
    he will prepare your way.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:2–3 Although Mark attributes the prophecy to Isaiah, the text is a combination of Mal 3:1; Is 40:3; Ex 23:20; cf. Mt 11:10; Lk 7:27. John’s ministry is seen as God’s prelude to the saving mission of his Son. The way of the Lord: this prophecy of Deutero-Isaiah concerning the end of the Babylonian exile is here applied to the coming of Jesus; John the Baptist is to prepare the way for him.

17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah[a] to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah: John is to be the messenger sent before Yahweh, as described in Mal 3:1–2. He is cast, moreover, in the role of the Old Testament fiery reformer, the prophet Elijah, who according to Mal 3:23 (Mal 4:5) is sent before “the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”

27 This is the one about whom scripture says:

‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    he will prepare your way before you.’(A)

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