Luke 1:39–80

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the hills of Judea. ⁴⁰She came to Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside her jumped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²She cried out in a loud voice, “God has blessed you more than any other woman, and he has blessed the baby to which you will give birth. ⁴³Why has this good thing happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. ⁴⁵You are blessed because you believed that what the Lord said to you would really happen.”

Mary Praises God

⁴⁶Then Mary said,

“My soul praises the Lord;

⁴⁷my heart rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸because he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl.

From now on, all people will say that I am blessed,

⁴⁹because the Powerful One has done great things for me.

His name is holy.

⁵⁰God will show his mercy forever and ever

to those who worship and serve him.

⁵¹He has done mighty deeds by his power.

He has scattered the people who are proud

and think great things about themselves.

⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones

and raised up the humble.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away with nothing.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant, the people of Israel,

remembering to show them mercy

⁵⁵as he promised to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his children forever.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The Birth of John

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a boy. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard how good the Lord was to her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, ⁶⁰but his mother said, “No! He will be named John.”

⁶¹The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has this name.” ⁶²Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name him.

⁶³Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John,” and everyone was surprised. ⁶⁴Immediately Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God. ⁶⁵All their neighbors became alarmed, and in all the mountains of Judea people continued talking about all these things. ⁶⁶The people who heard about them wondered, saying, “What will this child be?” because the Lord was with him.

Zechariah Praises God

⁶⁷Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸“Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come to help his people and has given them freedom.

⁶⁹He has given us a powerful Savior

from the family of God’s servant David.

⁷⁰He said that he would do this

through his holy prophets who lived long ago:

⁷¹He promised he would save us from our enemies

and from the power of all those who hate us.

⁷²He said he would give mercy to our ancestors

and that he would remember his holy promise.

⁷³God promised Abraham, our father,

⁷⁴that he would save us from the power of our enemies

so we could serve him without fear,

⁷⁵being holy and good before God as long as we live.

⁷⁶“Now you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.

You will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

⁷⁷You will make his people know that they will be saved

by having their sins forgiven.

⁷⁸With the loving mercy of our God,

a new day from heaven will dawn upon us.

⁷⁹It will shine on those who live in darkness,

in the shadow of death.

It will guide us into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰And so the child grew up and became strong in spirit. John lived in the desert until the time when he came out to preach to Israel.