Luke 1:57-80 (English Standard Version)

The Birth of John the Baptist

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ¹had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And ²on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, "No; ³he shall be called John." 61 And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." 62 And ⁴they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for ⁵a writing tablet and wrote, ⁶"His name is John." And they all wondered. 64 ⁷And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ⁸loosed, and he spoke, ⁹blessing God. 65 And ¹⁰fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ¹¹the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them ¹²laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For ¹³the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah ¹⁴was filled with the Holy Spirit and ¹⁵prophesied, saying, 68 ¹⁶"Blessed be the Lord ¹⁷God of Israel, for he has ¹⁸visited and ¹⁹redeemed his people 69 and ²⁰has raised up ²¹a horn of salvation for us ²²in the house of his servant David, 70 ²³as ²⁴he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 ²⁵that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; 72 ²⁶to show the mercy promised to our fathers and ²⁷to remember his holy ²⁸covenant, 73 ²⁹the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him ³⁰without fear, 75 ³¹in holiness and righteousness before him ³²all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called ³³the prophet of ³⁴the Most High; for ³⁵you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people ³⁶in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the ³⁷tender mercy of our God, whereby ³⁸the sunrise shall ³⁹visit us^a40from on high 79 to ⁴¹give light to ⁴²those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into ⁴³the way of ⁴⁴peace." 80 ⁴⁵And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ⁴⁶in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.