Luke 1:39-80

Contemporary English Version

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. ⁴⁰She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her.

The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. ⁴²^(A) Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. ⁴³Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. ⁴⁵The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

Mary's Song of Praise

⁴⁶^(B) Mary said:

With all my heart
    I praise the Lord,
⁴⁷and I am glad
    because of God my Savior.
⁴⁸God cares for me,
    his humble servant.
From now on,
all people will say
    God has blessed me.
⁴⁹God All-Powerful has done
great things for me,
    and his name is holy.
⁵⁰He always shows mercy
to everyone
    who worships him.
⁵¹The Lord has used
    his powerful arm
to scatter those
    who are proud.
⁵²^(C) God drags strong rulers
    from their thrones
and puts humble people
    in places of power.
⁵³God gives the hungry
    good things to eat,
and sends the rich away
    with nothing.
⁵⁴God helps his servant Israel
and is always merciful
    to his people.
⁵⁵^(D) The Lord made this promise
    to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his family
    forever!

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went back home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷When Elizabeth's son was born, ⁵⁸her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.

⁵⁹^(E) Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands.^[a] They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John.”

⁶¹The people argued, “No one in your family has ever been named John.” ⁶²So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.

⁶³Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. ⁶⁴At once, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.

⁶⁵All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. ⁶⁶Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew the Lord was with him.

Zechariah Praises the Lord

⁶⁷The Holy Spirit came upon Zechariah, and he began to speak:

⁶⁸Praise the Lord,
    the God of Israel!
He has come
    to save his people.
⁶⁹Our God has given us
    a mighty Savior^[b]
from the family
    of David his servant.
⁷⁰Long ago the Lord promised
by the words
    of his holy prophets
⁷¹to save us from our enemies
and from everyone
    who hates us.
⁷²God said he would be kind
to our people and keep
    his sacred promise.
⁷³He told our ancestor Abraham
⁷⁴that he would rescue us
    from our enemies.
Then we could serve him
    without fear,
⁷⁵by being holy and good
    as long as we live.

⁷⁶^(F) You, my son, will be called
    the prophet of God Most High.
You will go ahead of the Lord
to get everything ready
    for him.
⁷⁷You will tell his people
    that they can be saved
when their sins
    are forgiven.
⁷⁸God's love and kindness
    will shine upon us
like the sun that rises
    in the sky.^[c]
⁷⁹^(G) On us who live
in the dark shadow
    of death
this light will shine
to guide us
    into a life of peace.

⁸⁰As John grew up, God's Spirit gave him great power. John lived in the desert until the time he was sent to the people of Israel.

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Footnotes

1.59 what the Law of Moses commands: This refers to circumcision. It is the cutting off of skin from the private part of Jewish boys eight days after birth to show that they belong to the Lord.
1.69 a mighty Savior: The Greek text has “a horn of salvation.” In the Scriptures animal horns are often a symbol of great strength.
1.78 like the sun that rises in the sky: Or “like the Messiah coming from heaven.”