Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{[a] (B)}of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both ^(D)righteous before God, walking ^(E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because ^(F)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(G)both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now ^(H)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(I)his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(J)to enter ^(K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people ^(L)were praying ^(M)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(N)the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(O)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(Q)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(R)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be ^(S)great before the Lord. And ^(T)he must not drink wine or strong ^(U)drink, and ^(V)he will be ^(W)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(X)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he will go before him ^(Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AD)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AE)Gabriel. ^(AF)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, ^(AG)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(AH)the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(AI)the temple. And ^(AJ)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(AK)when his time of ^(AL)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(AM)to take away my reproach among people.”

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ^(A)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And ^(B)on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; ^(C)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And ^(D)they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for ^(E)a writing tablet and wrote, ^(F)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ^64 (G)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^(H)loosed, and he spoke, ^(I)blessing God. ⁶⁵ And ^(J)fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^(K)the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them ^(L)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(M)the hand of the Lord was with him.