¹⁶ And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai^(A) calling, “Gabriel,^(B) tell this man the meaning of the vision.”^(C)

The Seventy “Sevens”

²⁰ While I was speaking and praying, confessing^(A) my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill^(B)— ²¹ while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,^(C) the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.^(D)

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel.^(A) I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak^(B) until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs^(C) to them but remained unable to speak.

²³ When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace^(D) among the people.”

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel^(E) to Nazareth,^(F) a town in Galilee,