Luke 1:57-66

Evangelical Heritage Version

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ When the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they were rejoicing with her. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. They wanted to call him Zechariah after the name of the father. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered, “No. He will be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² They made signs to his father, to see what he wanted to name him.

⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.

⁶⁴ Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ Fear came on all who lived around them. In the entire hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ And everyone who heard this took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” Clearly, the hand of the Lord was with him.