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Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.
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Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,
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But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.
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He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
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for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.
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He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
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And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
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The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
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And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
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The Birth of Jesus Foretold
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
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But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
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You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
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He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
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and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
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“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
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The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
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For no word from God will ever fail.”
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In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
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and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
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for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
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Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
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“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
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And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
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because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
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But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
