One woman blesses another – Day 10

₅During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. ₆They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands. ₇They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

₈One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. ₉According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, ₁₀while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burnt.

₁₁An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar where the incense was burnt. ₁₂When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. ₁₃But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. ₁₄How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! ₁₅He will be a great man in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, ₁₆and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ₁₇He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.”

₁₈Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”

₁₉“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. ₂₀But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”

₂₁In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. ₂₂When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

₂₃When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. ₂₄Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. ₂₅“Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”

₃₉Soon afterwards Mary got ready and hurried off to a town in the hill country of Judea. ₄₀She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. ₄₁When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ₄₂and said in a loud voice, “You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ₄₃Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord's mother comes to visit me? ₄₄For as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby within me jumped with gladness. ₄₅How happy you are to believe that the Lord's message to you will come true!”