1:5 During the reign 1 of Herod 2 king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to 3 the priestly division of Abijah, 4 and he had a wife named Elizabeth, 5 who was a descendant of Aaron. 6 1:6 They 7 were both righteous in the sight of God, following 8 all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. 9 1:7 But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, 10 and they were both very old. 11
1:8 Now 12 while Zechariah 13 was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 14 1:9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, 15 to enter 16 the holy place 17 of the Lord and burn incense. 1:10 Now 18 the whole crowd 19 of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 20 1:11 An 21 angel of the Lord, 22 standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared 23 to him. 1:12 And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, 24 was seized with fear. 25 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, 26 and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you 27 will name him John. 28 1:14 Joy and gladness will come 29 to you, and many will rejoice at 30 his birth, 31 1:15 for he will be great in the sight of 32 the Lord. He 33 must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 34 1:16 He 35 will turn 36 many of the people 37 of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord 38 in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, 39 to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
1:18 Zechariah 40 said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? 41 For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” 42 1:19 The 43 angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands 44 in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring 45 you this good news. 1:20 And now, 46 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, 47 you will be silent, unable to speak, 48 until the day these things take place.”
1:21 Now 49 the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder 50 why he was delayed in the holy place. 51 1:22 When 52 he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They 53 realized that he had seen a vision 54 in the holy place, 55 because 56 he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak. 57 1:23 When his time of service was over, 58 he went to his home.
1:24 After some time 59 his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, 60 and for five months she kept herself in seclusion. 61 She said, 62 1:25 “This is what 63 the Lord has done for me at the time 64 when he has been gracious to me, 65 to take away my disgrace 66 among people.” 67
1:57 Now the time came 68 for Elizabeth to have her baby, 69 and she gave birth to a son. 1:58 Her 70 neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown 71 great mercy to her, and they rejoiced 72 with her.
1:59 On 73 the eighth day 74 they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name 75 him Zechariah after his father. 1:60 But 76 his mother replied, 77 “No! He must be named 78 John.” 79 1:61 They 80 said to her, “But 81 none of your relatives bears this name.” 82 1:62 So 83 they made signs to the baby’s 84 father, 85 inquiring what he wanted to name his son. 86 1:63 He 87 asked for a writing tablet 88 and wrote, 89 “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 90 1:64 Immediately 91 Zechariah’s 92 mouth was opened and his tongue 93 released, 94 and he spoke, blessing God. 1:65 All 95 their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about. 1:66 All 96 who heard these things 97 kept them in their hearts, 98 saying, “What then will this child be?” 99 For the Lord’s hand 100 was indeed with him.
1:67 Then 101 his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, 102
1:68 “Blessed 103 be the Lord God of Israel,
because he has come to help 104 and has redeemed 105 his people.
1:69 For 106 he has raised up 107 a horn of salvation 108 for us in the house of his servant David, 109
1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 110
1:71 that we should be saved 111 from our enemies, 112
and from the hand of all who hate us.
1:72 He has done this 113 to show mercy 114 to our ancestors, 115
and to remember his holy covenant 116 –
1:73 the oath 117 that he swore to our ancestor 118 Abraham.
This oath grants 119
1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our 120 enemies,
may serve him without fear, 121
1:75 in holiness and righteousness 122 before him for as long as we live. 123
1:76 And you, child, 124 will be called the prophet 125 of the Most High. 126
For you will go before 127 the Lord to prepare his ways, 128
1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation 129 through the forgiveness 130 of their sins.
1:78 Because of 131 our God’s tender mercy 132
the dawn 133 will break 134 upon us from on high
1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 135
to guide our feet into the way 136 of peace.”
1:80 And the child kept growing 137 and becoming strong 138 in spirit, and he was in the wilderness 139 until the day he was revealed 140 to Israel.