Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, and John 1:23. "Wilderness": or "desert"; the syntactic position of the phrase "in the wilderness" could be with "Prepare a way" (Masoretic Text or "MT"), suggesting the place where the preparation should be done, while the Greek Septuagint (or "LXX") connects it to "a voice shouting" indicating the place from where John’s ministry went forth. Jewish documents separately support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT version while some rabbinic texts support the LXX version, but in the final analysis, the 'net effect between the two choices may be minimal'. Like Mark 1:2–3, Matthew 3:3 and John 1:23, Luke quotes Isaiah 40 but to the greatest length in reference to John the Baptist, possibly to include the message that "...all flesh (or all mankind) will see God's salvation" () to his Gentile audience. Verse 5 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; Citing Isaiah 40:4 Verse 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Citing Isaiah 40:5 Verses 7–17 John first exhorts the listeners ("brood of snakes") to prove their repentance by the way they lived. Their sincerity was being called into question. As John continues to preach a baptism of repentance, he then tell the crowds that their descent from Abraham will not save them from "the wrath to come", that "...out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (8-9) The people ask what they should do and John speaks of sharing (verse 11). Specifically to tax collectors (publicans in the King James Version), and to soldiers he says that they should not abuse their positions. They ask him if he is the Christ, and he replies "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." () also found in Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:7-8 and John 1:26-27. John is then locked up by Herod for rebuking him about his wife Herodias, Herod adding this "crowning iniquity" to all his other misdeeds. Verse