15. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
17. 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 to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18. Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife well advanced in years.”
19. The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. And I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20. And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their season.”
21. The people waited for Zechariah, and wondered why he waited so long in the temple.
22. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he made signs to them and remained speechless.
23. As soon as the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his own home.
24. After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying,
25. “Thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.”
26. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,