Luke 1:4–22

⁴so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.^g

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵In the time of Herod king of Judea^h there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah;ⁱ his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.^{j 7}But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,^{k 9}he was chosen by lot,^l according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.^{m 10}And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.ⁿ

¹¹Then an angel^o of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.^{p 12}When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.^{q 13}But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid,^r Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.^{s 14}He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,^{t 15}for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,^u and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit^v even before he is born.^{w 16}He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go on before the Lord,^x in the spirit and power of Elijah,^y to turn the hearts of the parents to their children^z and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”^a

¹⁸Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this?^b I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”^c

¹⁹The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel.^d I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰And now you will be silent and not able to speak^e until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs^f to them but remained unable to speak.