Luke 1:66-80

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

⁶⁶ And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, Whatever will this little boy be then? For the hand of the Lord was [^[a]so evidently] with him [protecting and aiding him].

⁶⁷ Now Zachariah his father was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸ Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and brought deliverance and redemption to His people!

⁶⁹ And He has raised up a Horn of salvation [a mighty and valiant Helper, the Author of salvation] for us in the house of David His servant—

⁷⁰ This is as He promised by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times [in the memory of man]—

⁷¹ That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred;

⁷² To make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is ^[b]all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself],

⁷³ That covenant He sealed by oath to our forefather Abraham:

⁷⁴ To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly

⁷⁵ In holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives.

⁷⁶ And you, little one, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go on before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways,^(A)

⁷⁷ To bring and give the knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness and remission of their sins.

⁷⁸ Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit [us]^(B)

⁷⁹ To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace.^(C)

⁸⁰ And the little boy grew and became strong in spirit; and he was in the deserts (wilderness) until the day of his appearing to Israel [the commencement of his public ministry].