Luke 1:4–22

^4othat thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast ^pbeen instructed.

⁵There was ^qin the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, ^rof the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ⁶And they were both ^srighteous before God, ^twalking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord ^ublameless. ⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was ^xbarren, and ^ythey both were now ^zwell stricken in years. ⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God ^ain the order of his course, ⁹according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was ^bto burn incense when he went into ^cthe temple of the Lord. ¹⁰And ^dthe whole multitude of the people were ^epraying ^dwithout at the time of incense. ¹¹And there appeared unto him ^eean angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^fthe altar of incense. ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, ^ghe was troubled, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and ^hthou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall ⁱrejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and ^jshall drink ^kneither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled ^kwith the Holy Ghost, even ^lfrom his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. ^17mAnd he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to ⁿturn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; ^oto make ready a people ^pprepared for the Lord. ¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, ^qWhereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife ^rwell stricken in years. ¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am ^sGabriel, ^tthat stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. ²⁰And behold, ^uthou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. ²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in ^cthe temple. ²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in ^cthe temple: for ^xhe beckoned unto them, and remained ^xspeechless.