In the days of Herod, king of Judea,
there was a priest named Zacharias of the Abijah division,
and his wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both correct before God,
proceeding blameless in all the commandments
and requirements of the Lord.
And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren;
and they were both advanced in their days.
It happened that in the order of his division
while he served as priest before God,
according to the custom of the priesthood,
it was his lot to burn incense entering the temple of the Lord,
and all the assembly of the people
were praying outside at the hour of the incense.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him
standing on the right of the altar of incense.
And Zacharias seeing was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, "Fear not, Zacharias,
for your prayer has been heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you shall call his name John;
and there will be joy and gladness for you,
and many will rejoice over his birth.
For he will be great in the presence of the Lord,
and he may not drink wine nor alcohol,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
even from his mother's womb,
and he will turn many of the sons of Israel
to the Lord their God;
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient into the wisdom of the just
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
And Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this?
For I am old and my wife is advanced in her days."
And the angel answering said to him, "I am Gabriel,
standing in the presence of God,
and I was sent to speak to you
and to tell you these good messages;
and look, you shall be silent and unable to speak
until the day these things happen,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their time."
And the people were expecting Zacharias,
and they wondered about his delay in the temple.
And coming out he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple;
he was nodding to them, and he remained dumb.
And it happened when the days of his service were completed,
that he went away to his home.
And after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived,
and hid herself for five months,
saying, "The Lord has done this for me
in these days in which he looked favorably
in taking away my shame among people."
Luke 1:5-25