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The Canticle of Zechariah. 67 Then Zechariah his father, filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:

68 [a]“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.(A)
69 [b]He has raised up a horn for our salvation
    within the house of David his servant,(B)
70 even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old:
71     salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,(C)
72 to show mercy to our fathers(D)
    and to be mindful of his holy covenant(E)
73 and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,(F)
    and to grant us that, 74 rescued from the hand of enemies,
without fear we might worship him 75 in holiness and righteousness
    before him all our days.(G)
76 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord[c] to prepare his ways,(H)
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God(I)
    by which the daybreak from on high[d] will visit us(J)
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
    to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:68–79 Like the canticle of Mary (Lk 1:46–55) the canticle of Zechariah is only loosely connected with its context. Apart from Lk 1:76–77, the hymn in speaking of a horn for our salvation (Lk 1:69) and the daybreak from on high (Lk 1:78) applies more closely to Jesus and his work than to John. Again like Mary’s canticle, it is largely composed of phrases taken from the Greek Old Testament and may have been a Jewish Christian hymn of praise that Luke adapted to fit the present context by inserting Lk 1:76–77 to give Zechariah’s reply to the question asked in Lk 1:66.
  2. 1:69 A horn for our salvation: the horn is a common Old Testament figure for strength (Ps 18:3; 75:5–6; 89:18; 112:9; 148:14). This description is applied to God in Ps 18:3 and is here transferred to Jesus. The connection of the phrase with the house of David gives the title messianic overtones and may indicate an allusion to a phrase in Hannah’s song of praise (1 Sm 2:10), “the horn of his anointed.”
  3. 1:76 You will go before the Lord: here the Lord is most likely a reference to Jesus (contrast Lk 1:15–17 where Yahweh is meant) and John is presented as the precursor of Jesus.
  4. 1:78 The daybreak from on high: three times in the LXX (Jer 23:5; Zec 3:8; 6:12), the Greek word used here for daybreak translates the Hebrew word for “scion, branch,” an Old Testament messianic title.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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