²⁰ But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

²⁶ And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels.

²⁷ And when he arrives, your voice will suddenly return so you can talk to him, and you will be a symbol for these people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

²² When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.

² This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.

⁶² So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. ⁶³ He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.”

⁴⁵ You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”