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An Angel Tells about the Birth of John

(A) When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron.[a] Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.

One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense,[b] 10 while the people stood outside praying.

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Footnotes

  1. 1.5 Aaron: The brother of Moses and the first priest.
  2. 1.9 burn incense: This was done twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon.

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

In the time of Herod king of Judea(A) there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah;(B) his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.(C) But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,(D) he was chosen by lot,(E) according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.(F) 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.(G)

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