Luke 1:17–25

¹⁷“And he will ^ago before Him in the spirit and power of ^bElijah, ^cto turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^dmake ready a people prepared for the ¹Lord.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^aI am an old man and my wife is advanced in ¹years.”

¹⁹And the angel answered and said to him, “I am ^aGabriel, who ^bstands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰“And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary.

²²But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he ^akept ¹making signs to them, and remained mute.

²³And it happened that when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went back home.

²⁴After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she ¹kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

²⁵“This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked upon me to ^atake away my disgrace among men.”