64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue
loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea.
66 And all those who heard
them a kept
them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And
b the hand of the Lord was with him.
‡
Zacharias’ Prophecy
67 Now his father Zacharias
a was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
‡
68 “Blessed
a is the Lord God of Israel,
For
b He has visited and redeemed His people,
‡
69 a And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
‡
70 a As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who
have been b since the world began,
‡
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 a To perform the mercy
promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
‡
73 a The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
‡
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might
a serve Him without fear,
‡
75 a In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
‡
76 “And you, child, will be called the
a prophet of the Highest;
For
b you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
‡
77 To give
a knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
‡
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the
1 Dayspring from on high has visited us;
‡
79 a To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To
b guide our feet into the way of peace.”
‡
80 So
a the child grew and became strong in spirit, and
b was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
‡
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.