John the Baptist is born

⁵⁷ The time arrived for Elizabeth to have her baby. She had a son. ⁵⁸ Her family and the people who lived near her heard about her baby. They knew that the Lord had been very kind to her. They saw that she was happy. So they were happy too. ⁵⁹ When the child was eight days old, people met together to circumcise him.^[a] They wanted to call the child Zechariah. This was the same name that his father had.

⁶⁰ Elizabeth said, ‘No. His name will be John.’

⁶¹ They replied, ‘But you do not have anyone in your family called John. That cannot be right.’ ⁶² So they used their hands to make signs to the baby's father. They wanted to ask him what his son's name should be.^[b]

⁶³ Zechariah asked for something to write on. He wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was very surprised at what he wrote. ⁶⁴ Immediately, Zechariah could speak again. He could speak easily. He began to thank God aloud.^[c]

⁶⁵ The people who lived near Zechariah and Elizabeth were very surprised. They saw how great God was. Many people who lived in the hills of Judea also talked about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard about these things thought about them. They asked each other, ‘When this child becomes a man, what will he be?’ They could see that God really was with him.

Zechariah's song

⁶⁷ The Holy Spirit filled John's father, Zechariah, so that he spoke God's message:

⁷⁶ Zechariah then spoke to John:

⁸⁰ Zechariah's child grew. God made him strong in his mind. He went into the wilderness and he lived there for many years. Later, God sent him to Israel's people, to teach them.^[i]