Luke 1:4–22

⁴I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced

^5*During the time when Herod was king of Judea,^a there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife’s name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. ⁶They both lived good lives in God’s sight and obeyed fully all the Lord’s laws and commands. ⁷They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

⁸One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. ⁹According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, ¹⁰while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burnt.

¹¹An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar where the incense was burnt. ¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. ¹⁴How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! ^15*He will be a great man in the Lord’s sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ^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.