ot be afraid, Zacharias"_]

"Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for I have come from the Lord to bring
good news. Your wife Elizabeth shall have a son, and you shall name him
John. You shall be made glad, for your son John shall bring joy and
gladness to many. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord; and he
shall never taste wine nor strong drink as long as he lives; but he
shall be filled with God's Holy Spirit. He shall lead many of the
people of Israel to the Lord, for he shall go before the Lord in the
power of Elijah the prophet, as was promised by Malachi, the last of the
old prophets. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and those who are disobeying the Lord to do his will."

As Zacharias heard these words, he was filled with wonder, and could
hardly believe them true. He was now an old man, and his wife Elizabeth
was also old; so that they could not expect to have a child. He said to
the angel:

"How shall I know that your words are true, for I am an old man, and my
wife is old?"

"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God," said the angel. "And
I was sent from the Lord to speak to you, and to bring you this good
news. But because you did not believe my words, you shall become dumb,
and shall not be able to speak, until this which I have said comes to
pass."

All this time the people outside in the court were wondering why the
priest stayed so long in the Temple. When at last he came out, they
found that he could not speak a word; but he made signs to them, to tell
them that he had seen a vision in the Temple.

After the days of his service were over, Zacharias went to his own home,
which was near Hebron, a city of the priests, among the mountains in
the south of Judea. When his wife Elizabeth found that God was soon to
give her a child, she was very happy, and praised the Lord.

About six months after Zacharias saw the vision in the Temple, the same
angel Gabriel was sent from the Lord to a city in the part of the land
called Galilee, which was in the north. The city to which the angel was
sent was Nazareth. There the angel found a young girl named Mary, who
was a cousin to Elizabeth. Mary was soon to be married to a good man who
had sprung from the line of king David, though he was not himself a
king, nor a rich man. He was a carpenter, living in Nazareth, and his
name was Joseph. The angel came into the room where Mary was, and said
to her: "Hail, woman favored by the Lord; the