Luke 1:46-68

46Then Mary said, ‘All of me wants to praise God and say, “Lord, how good and great you are!”

47I thank God because he is the one who saves me.

48I know that I am not an important person. God knows this, and he has been kind to me. Listen! From now on, all people will say that God has made me happy.

49Yes, God has done great things for me. He is very powerful and strong. He is good in every way.

50He is kind to people who respect and obey him. He will always be kind to people like that.

51He has shown how strong he is to do great things. Some people think that they are very important. But he has sent them away in different directions.

52Some people were ruling countries. But he has taken their power away from them. He has given power to people who do not feel important.

53He has fed hungry people with good things to eat. But he has sent rich people away with nothing.

54He promised that he would be kind to his people, Israel. Now he has come and helped them.

55He made a promise to Abraham and to our other ancestors. Now he has done what he promised.’

56Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home.

57The time arrived for Elizabeth to have her baby. She had a son.

58Her family and the people who lived near her heard about her baby. They knew that the Lord had been very kind to her. They saw that she was happy. So they were happy too.

59When the child was eight days old, people met together to circumcise him. They wanted to call the child Zechariah. This was the same name that his father had.

60Elizabeth said, ‘No. His name will be John.’

61They replied, ‘But you do not have anyone in your family called John. That cannot be right.’

62So they used their hands to make signs to the baby's father. They wanted to ask him what his son's name should be.

63Zechariah asked for something to write on. He wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was very surprised at what he wrote.

64Immediately, Zechariah could speak again. He could speak easily. He began to thank God aloud.

65The people who lived near Zechariah and Elizabeth were very surprised. They saw how great God was. Many people who lived in the hills of Judea also talked about all these things.

66Everyone who heard about these things thought about them. They asked each other, ‘When this child becomes a man, what will he be?’ They could see that God really was with him.

67The Holy Spirit filled John's father, Zechariah, so that he spoke God's message:

68‘The Lord God of Israel is a great God. He has come to save his people. He has come to make them free.