1:8 Now 1 while Zechariah 2 was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 3 1:9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, 4 to enter 5 the holy place 6 of the Lord and burn incense. 1:10 Now 7 the whole crowd 8 of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 9 1:11 An 10 angel of the Lord, 11 standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared 12 to him. 1:12 And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, 13 was seized with fear. 14 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, 15 and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you 16 will name him John. 17 1:14 Joy and gladness will come 18 to you, and many will rejoice at 19 his birth, 20 1:15 for he will be great in the sight of 21 the Lord. He 22 must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 23 1:16 He 24 will turn 25 many of the people 26 of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord 27 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, 28 to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
1:18 Zechariah 29 said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? 30 For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” 31 1:19 The 32 angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands 33 in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring 34 you this good news. 1:20 And now, 35 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, 36 you will be silent, unable to speak, 37 until the day these things take place.”
1:21 Now 38 the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder 39 why he was delayed in the holy place. 40 1:22 When 41 he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They 42 realized that he had seen a vision 43 in the holy place, 44 because 45 he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak. 46 1:23 When his time of service was over, 47 he went to his home.
1:24 After some time 48 his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, 49 and for five months she kept herself in seclusion. 50 She said, 51 1:25 “This is what 52 the Lord has done for me at the time 53 when he has been gracious to me, 54 to take away my disgrace 55 among people.” 56
1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 57 the angel Gabriel 58 was sent by 59 God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 60 1:27 to a virgin engaged 61 to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, 62 and the virgin’s name was Mary. 1:28 The 63 angel 64 came 65 to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, 66 the Lord is with you!” 67 1:29 But 68 she was greatly troubled 69 by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. 70 1:30 So 71 the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, 72 Mary, for you have found favor 73 with God! 1:31 Listen: 74 You will become pregnant 75 and give birth to 76 a son, and you will name him 77 Jesus. 78 1:32 He 79 will be great, 80 and will be called the Son of the Most High, 81 and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father 82 David. 1:33 He 83 will reign over the house of Jacob 84 forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 1:34 Mary 85 said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with 86 a man?” 1:35 The angel replied, 87 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow 88 you. Therefore the child 89 to be born 90 will be holy; 91 he will be called the Son of God.
1:36 “And look, 92 your relative 93 Elizabeth has also become pregnant with 94 a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! 95 1:37 For nothing 96 will be impossible with God.” 1:38 So 97 Mary said, “Yes, 98 I am a servant 99 of the Lord; let this happen to me 100 according to your word.” 101 Then 102 the angel departed from her.
1:39 In those days 103 Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, 104 1:40 and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 1:41 When 105 Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped 106 in her 107 womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 108 1:42 She 109 exclaimed with a loud voice, 110 “Blessed are you among women, 111 and blessed is the child 112 in your womb! 1:43 And who am I 113 that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me? 1:44 For the instant 114 the sound of your greeting reached my ears, 115 the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 116 1:45 And blessed 117 is she who believed that 118 what was spoken to her by 119 the Lord would be fulfilled.” 120
1:46 And Mary 121 said, 122
“My soul exalts 123 the Lord, 124
1:47 and my spirit has begun to rejoice 125 in God my Savior,
1:48 because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. 126
For 127 from now on 128 all generations will call me blessed, 129
1:49 because he who is mighty 130 has done great things for me, and holy is his name;
1:50 from 131 generation to generation he is merciful 132 to those who fear 133 him.
1:51 He has demonstrated power 134 with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance 135 of their hearts.
1:52 He has brought down the mighty 136 from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; 137
1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, 138 and has sent the rich away empty. 139
1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering 140 his mercy, 141
1:55 as he promised 142 to our ancestors, 143 to Abraham and to his descendants 144 forever.”
1:56 So 145 Mary stayed with Elizabeth 146 about three months 147 and then returned to her home.
1:57 Now the time came 148 for Elizabeth to have her baby, 149 and she gave birth to a son. 1:58 Her 150 neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown 151 great mercy to her, and they rejoiced 152 with her.
1:59 On 153 the eighth day 154 they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name 155 him Zechariah after his father. 1:60 But 156 his mother replied, 157 “No! He must be named 158 John.” 159 1:61 They 160 said to her, “But 161 none of your relatives bears this name.” 162 1:62 So 163 they made signs to the baby’s 164 father, 165 inquiring what he wanted to name his son. 166 1:63 He 167 asked for a writing tablet 168 and wrote, 169 “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 170 1:64 Immediately 171 Zechariah’s 172 mouth was opened and his tongue 173 released, 174 and he spoke, blessing God. 1:65 All 175 their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about. 1:66 All 176 who heard these things 177 kept them in their hearts, 178 saying, “What then will this child be?” 179 For the Lord’s hand 180 was indeed with him.
1:67 Then 181 his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, 182
1:68 “Blessed 183 be the Lord God of Israel,
because he has come to help 184 and has redeemed 185 his people.
1:69 For 186 he has raised up 187 a horn of salvation 188 for us in the house of his servant David, 189
1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 190
1:71 that we should be saved 191 from our enemies, 192
and from the hand of all who hate us.
1:72 He has done this 193 to show mercy 194 to our ancestors, 195
and to remember his holy covenant 196 –
1:73 the oath 197 that he swore to our ancestor 198 Abraham.
This oath grants 199
1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our 200 enemies,
may serve him without fear, 201
1:75 in holiness and righteousness 202 before him for as long as we live. 203
1:76 And you, child, 204 will be called the prophet 205 of the Most High. 206
For you will go before 207 the Lord to prepare his ways, 208
1:77 to give his people knowledge of salvation 209 through the forgiveness 210 of their sins.
1:78 Because of 211 our God’s tender mercy 212
the dawn 213 will break 214 upon us from on high
1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 215
to guide our feet into the way 216 of peace.”
1:80 And the child kept growing 217 and becoming strong 218 in spirit, and he was in the wilderness 219 until the day he was revealed 220 to Israel.