Luke:1:5-25
Seeker Overlay ON
*
In the days of Herod ,
king of Judea ,
there was a priest named Zechariah ,
of the division of Abijah ;
and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron ,
and her name was Elizabeth .
*
And they were both righteous before God ,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless .
*
But they had no child ,
because Elizabeth was barren ,
and they were both well advanced in years .
*
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty ,
*
according to the custom of the priesthood ,
it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense .
*
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense .
*
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him ,
standing on the right side of the altar of incense .
*
And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him ,
and fear fell upon him .
*
But the angel said to him , »
Do not be afraid ,
Zechariah ,
for your prayer is heard ;
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son ,
and you shall call his name John .
*
And you will have joy and gladness ,
and many will rejoice at his birth .
*
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord ,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink .
He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit ,
even from his mother
s womb .
*
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God .
*
And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah ,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children ,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ,
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord .«
*
And Zechariah said to the angel , »
How shall I know this ?
For I am an old man ,
and my wife is well advanced in years .«
*
And the angel answered him , »
I am Gabriel ,
who stands in the presence of God ;
and I was sent to speak to you ,
and to bring you this good news .
*
And behold ,
you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that these things come to pass ,
because you did not believe my words ,
which will be fulfilled in their time .«
*
And the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple .
*
But when he came out ,
he could not speak to them ;
and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple ,
for he made signs to them and remained speechless .
*
And when his time of service was completed ,
he went to his home .
*
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived ,
and for five months she hid herself ,
saying ,
* »
Thus the Lord has done to me ,
in the days when he looked on me ,
to take away my reproach among people .«
![[pBiblx2]](/img/pbiblx2_logo3.png){kind=logo}