Luke 1:17–25

^17*He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord’s people ready for him.”

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”

^19*“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. ²⁰But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”

²¹In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

²³When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. ²⁴Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. ²⁵“Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”