The announcement of the birth of John
1 5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah, belonging to the priestly clan of Abiah. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, also belonged to a priestly family. 6Both of them were upright in the eyes of God and lived blamelessly in accordance with all the laws and commands of the Lord, 7but they had no child. Elizabeth could not have any and now they were both very old.
8Now, while Zechariah and those with him were fulfilling their office, 9it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priests, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10At the time of offering incense all the people were praying outside; 11it was then that an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12On seeing the angel, Zechariah was deeply troubled and fear took hold of him.
13But the angel said to him: 
—Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, be assured that your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John. 14He will bring joy and gladness to you and many will rejoice at his birth. 15This son of yours will be great in the eyes of the Lord. Listen: he shall never drink wine or strong drink, but he will be filled with holy spirit even from his mother’s womb. 16Through him many of the people of Israel will turn to the Lord their God. 17He himself will open the way to the Lord with the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah; he will reconcile fathers and children, and lead the disobedient to wisdom and righteousness, in order to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
18Zechariah said to the angel: 
—How can I believe this? I am an old man and my wife is elderly, too. 
19The angel replied: 
—I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I am the one sent to speak to you and bring you this good news! My words will come true in their time. 20But you would not believe and now you will be silent and unable to speak until this has happened. 
21Meanwhile the people waited for Zechariah, and they were surprised that he delayed so long in the sanctuary. 22When he finally appeared, he could not speak to them and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He remained dumb and made signs to them.
23When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home 24and some time later Elizabeth became pregnant. For five months she kept to herself, remaining at home, and thinking: 
25—What is the Lord doing for me! This is his time for mercy and for taking away my public disgrace.

THE CONCISE BIBLE
Christian Community Bible 
Catholic Pastoral Edition

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Originally published by
Ediciones Mensajero, Spain