[1:67] And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
[1:68] “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
[1:69] and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
[1:70] as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
[1:71] that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
[1:72] to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
[1:73] the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
[1:74] that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
[1:75] in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
[1:76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
[1:77] to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
[1:78] because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
[1:79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
[1:80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.