Luke 1:5-20

5There 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 from the family of the priest called Aaron.

6Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God's commands and rules. God saw that they were righteous people. They did not do wrong things.

7But they had no children. Elizabeth could not give birth and they were both getting old.

8One day, Zechariah's group of priests was working at the temple. He had a special job to do there.

9The priests chose 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.

10While Zechariah was burning incense in the special room, many men were outside in the yard. They were praying to God.

11The incense was burning on a special altar, when one of God's angels appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right hand side of the altar.

12When Zechariah saw the angel, he was very surprised and very afraid.

13The 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”.

14He will be very important to the Lord God. So he will make you very happy. Many other people will also be very happy because he has been born. He must never drink anything with alcohol in it. From the time that he is born, the Holy Spirit will live inside him.

16He will teach many people in Israel. Then they will turn their lives back to the Lord their God and they will obey God again.

17John 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. Then they will be ready when the Lord comes.’

18Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure about this? You know that I am an old man. My wife is also old.’

19The 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.

20Now 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 that your son is born. My message will really become true at the right time.’