Luke 1:4–22

⁴that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed.

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abia, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. ⁸And it came to pass, as he fulfilled his priestly service before God in the order of his course, ⁹it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. ¹⁰And all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense. ¹¹And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense. ¹²And Zacharias was troubled, seeing him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, because thy supplication has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴And he shall be to thee joy and rejoicing, and many shall rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he shall be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn hearts of fathers to children, and disobedient ones to the thoughts of just men, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people. ¹⁸And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife advanced in years? ¹⁹And the angel answering, said to him, I am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to bring these glad tidings to thee; ²⁰and behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, till the day in which these things shall take place, because thou hast not believed my words, the which shall be fulfilled in their time. ²¹And the people were awaiting Zacharias, and they wondered at his delaying in the temple. ²²But when he came out he could not speak to them, and they recognised that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he was making signs to them, and continued dumb.