An angel speaks about the birth of John the Baptist
5 There was a man whose name was Zechariah. He lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zechariah was a priest and he belonged to a group of priests from the family of Abijah. He had a wife called Elizabeth. She also was a descendant of Aaron.
1:5This king of Judea was called Herod the Great.
1:5A priest was a special servant of God who worked at the temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital city of Israel. The temple of God was in Jerusalem. There were 24 groups of priests. One group at a time worked in the temple. Zechariah was in the group of Abijah.
6 Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed all God's commands and rules. God saw that they did what was right. They did not do wrong things. 7 But they had no children. Elizabeth could not give birth and they were both getting old.
8 One day, Zechariah's group of priests was working at the temple. He had a special job to do there. 9 The priests used lots to choose one of their group to go into the holy place in the temple. This time they chose Zechariah. His job was to burn incense there. 10 While Zechariah was burning the incense, many people were outside in the yard. They were praying to God.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar.
12 When Zechariah saw the angel, he was very surprised and very afraid. 13 The angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid. God has heard what you prayed. He will give you what you asked for. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy. You will give him the name “John”. 14 John will make you very happy. Many other people will also be very happy when he is born. 15 John will be a very important person who serves the Lord God. He must never drink anything with alcohol in it. From the time when he is born, the Holy Spirit will live in him.
16 John will teach people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God and obey him. 17 He will prepare the people for the Lord to come to them. The Holy Spirit will lead John as he led Elijah. John will do powerful things as Elijah did. He will help fathers to love their children. He will teach people who do not obey God. Then they will know what things are right. And they will do them. They will be ready when the Lord comes.’
1:16Israel was the land that God gave to his people, the Israelites, to live in. Jacob was the ancestor of the Israelites and God gave him a new name, Israel. See Genesis 32:27-28; 35:9-10. 1:17Elijah was a prophet who spoke God's messages. See 1 Kings 17. 18 Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure about this? You know that I am an old man. My wife is also old.’
19 The angel answered, ‘I am called Gabriel. My place is to stand in front of God. I am always ready to work for God. He has sent me to speak to you. He told me that I should tell you this good news. 20 Now listen to me. Because you did not believe my message, you will not be able to speak. You will not speak again until the time when your son is born. My message will become true at the right time.’
21 While this was happening, the people outside were waiting for Zechariah. They were thinking, ‘Why has Zechariah stayed for such a long time in the holy place? Why has he not come out yet?’ 22 When Zechariah did come out, he tried to talk to them. But he could not speak. So they knew that God had showed him something special in the holy place. Zechariah was moving his head and his hands about, to tell them what had happened. But still he could not speak.
23 When Zechariah had finished his work in the temple, he returned home. 24 Soon, a baby was growing inside his wife Elizabeth. She stayed in her house for five months. 25 She said, ‘The Lord God has now given me a baby. He has been kind to me. Because of this, other people cannot cause me to be ashamed.’
