16. “John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God.
17. John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.”
18. Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is also old.”
19. The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God. He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news.
20. Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But everything I said will really happen.”
21. Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah. They were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple.
22. Then Zechariah came outside, but he could not speak to them. So the people knew that he had seen a vision inside the Temple. He was not able to speak, so he could only make signs to the people.
23. When his time of service was finished, he went home.
24. Later, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth became pregnant. So she did not go out of her house for five months. She said,
25. “Look what the Lord has done for me! He decided to help me. Now people will stop thinking there is something wrong with me.”
26-27. During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary.
28. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord is with you; you are very special to him.”