Luke 3:5

New Life Version

Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Every valley will be filled,and every mountain and hill will be made low;the crooked will become straight,the rough ways smooth,

King James Version (1611)
Euery valley shall be filled, and euery mountaine and hill shalbe brought low, and the crooked shall bee made straight, and the rough wayes shall be made smooth.

King James 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;

English Standard Version
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways,

New American Standard Bible
'EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE LOWERED; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;

New Century Version
Every valley should be filled in, and every mountain and hill should be made flat. Roads with turns should be made straight, and rough roads should be made smooth.

Amplified Bible
'EVERY RAVINE SHALL BE FILLED UP, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL SHALL BE LEVELED; AND THE CROOKED [places] SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;

Legacy Standard Bible
Every ravine will be filled,And every mountain and hill will be brought low;The crooked will be straight,And the rough roads smooth.

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.

Contemporary English Version
Fill up every valley and level every mountain and hill. Straighten the crooked paths and smooth out the rough roads.

Complete Jewish Bible
Every valley must be filled in, every mountain and hill leveled off; the winding roads must be straightened and the rough ways made smooth.

Darby Translation
Every gorge shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked [places] shall become a straight [path], and the rough places smooth ways,

Easy-to-Read Version
Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made flat. Crooked roads will be made straight, and rough roads will be made smooth.

Geneva Bible (1587)
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.

George Lamsa Translation
Let all the valleys be filled up, and all the mountains and hills be levelled; let the crooked places be made straight, and the rough places like a plain;

Good News Translation
Every valley must be filled up, every hill and mountain leveled off. The winding roads must be made straight, and the rough paths made smooth.

Lexham English Bible
Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled, and the crooked will become straight, and the rough road will become smooth,

Literal Translation
Every valley shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked places shall be made into straight, and the rough into smooth ways;"

American Standard Version
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;

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

International Standard Version
Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth.

Etheridge Translation
All valleys shall be filled, And all mountains and heights be brought low, And the mound shall be a level (place), And the rough place a plain,

Murdock Translation
All valleys shall be filled up, and all mountains and hills be lowered; and the hillock shall be levelled down, and the rough place become smooth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Euery valley shalbe fylled, and euery mountayne & hyll shalbe brought lowe: And thynges that be croked, shalbe made strayght, and the rough wayes shalbe made playne.

English Revised Version
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;

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.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
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 smooth: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Weymouth's New Testament
Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill levelled down, the crooked places shall be turned into straight roads, and the rugged ways into smooth;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ech valey schal be fulfillid, and euery hil and litil hil schal be maad lowe; and schrewid thingis schulen ben in to dressid thingis, and scharp thingis in to pleyn weies;

Update Bible Version
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;

Webster's Bible Translation
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;

New English Translation
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,

New King James Version
Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth;

New Living Translation
The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

New Revised Standard
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Every chasm, shall be filled up, and, every mountain and hill, be made low; and the, crooked, places shall become, straight, and the, rugged, places, smooth ways; -

Douay-Rheims 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 plain.

Revised Standard 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;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Every valley shalbe fylled and every moutayne and hyll shalbe brought lowe. And crocked thinges shalbe made streight: and the rough wayes shalbe made smoth:

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;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Euery valley shalbe fylled, and euery mountayne & hyll shalbe brought lowe. And what so is croked, shalbe made straight: and what rough is, shalbe made smooth,

Mace New Testament (1729)
every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be level'd: the crooked shall be made strait, and the rough ways shall be made smooth,

Simplified Cowboy Version
The draws will be filled and the mountains made flat. Those winding trails will be made straight, and the rough roads become like glass.

Contextual Overview

¹ Tiberius Caesar had been ruler for fifteen years. Pontius Pilate was ruler of the country of Judea. Herod was the ruler of the country of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of the countries of Ituraea and Trachonitis. Lysanias was the ruler of the country of Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the head religious leaders. The Word of God came to John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias. John was in the desert. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan River. He preached that people should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and had turned from them, and they would be forgiven. ⁴ The early preacher Isaiah wrote these words: "His voice calls out in the desert. ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him! ⁵ Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth. ⁶ And all men will see God saving people from the punishment of their sins.'" ⁷ John said to the people who came to be baptized by him, "You family of snakes! Who told you how to keep from the anger of God that is coming? ⁸ Do something to let me see that you have turned from your sins. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones. ⁹ Even now the ax is on the root of the trees. Every tree that does not give good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." ¹⁰ The people asked him, "Then what should we do?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

valley: Luke 1:51-53, Isaiah 2:11-17, Isaiah 35:6-8, Isaiah 40:4, Isaiah 49:11, Isaiah 61:1-3, Ezekiel 17:24, James 1:9

and the crooked: Isaiah 42:16, Isaiah 45:2, Hebrews 12:12, Hebrews 12:13

Reciprocal: Isaiah 43:19 - I will even Isaiah 57:14 - Cast Zechariah 4:7 - O great

Cross-References

Genesis 2:17
But do not eat from the tree of learning of good and bad. For the day you eat from it you will die for sure."

Genesis 3:2
Then the woman said to the snake, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:3
But from the tree which is in the center of the garden, God has said, ‘Do not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"

Genesis 3:6
The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eyes, and could fill the desire of making one wise. So she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were without clothes. So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves clothing.

Genesis 3:10
And the man said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden. I was afraid because I was without clothes. So I hid myself."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The snake fooled me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:14
Then the Lord God said to the snake, "Because you have done this, you will be hated and will suffer more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You will go on your stomach and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:15
And I will make you and the woman hate each other, and your seed and her seed will hate each other. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel."

Genesis 3:22
Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and bad. Now then, he might put out his hand to take from the tree of life also, and eat and live forever."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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,

Isaiah 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, דרך משל, "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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

On the baptism of John - see the notes at Matthew 3:0.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 3:5. Every valley shall be filled — All hinderances shall be taken out of the way: a quotation from the Greek version of Isaiah 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 Matthew 3:3.