The voice of a man crying out in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places smooth.

He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.

And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not. I will lead them in paths that they know not. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says LORD of hosts.

And I will put it into the hand of those who afflict thee, who have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over, and thou have laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to those who go over.

And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands afar off. For truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.