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In the King James version
In the Old Testament
* Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
In the New Testament
* Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. * Mar 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. * Luk 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. * Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. In these passages the word 'crying' carries an old meaning of "speaking out" (as in the expression ("he cried out...").
In a wilderness there is no-one who can hear you, in the phrase "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" there is no one who will listen.
John the Baptist is the person referred to here, and he complains that, although he is preaching of the coming of the Lord, no-one (or few) will pay attention.
