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39. And Mary rose up in those days and went to the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
40. And entered into the house of Zachariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41. And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42. And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43. And how has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leaped with exultation in my womb.
45. And blessed is she who has believed, because there will be a completion of the things spoken to her from the Lord.
46. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,
47. And my spirit has exulted in God my Savior;
48. Because He has looked upon the low estate of His slave. For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed,
49. Because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
50. And His mercy is unto generations and generations, unto those who fear Him.
51. He has exercised might with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the understanding of their heart.
52. He has brought down potentates from thrones and has exalted the humble;
53. The hungry He has filled with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
54. He has upheld Israel His servant to remember mercy,
55. Even as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.
56. And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

C. His Forerunner’s Birth
and Youth

57. Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
58. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.
59. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the little child, and they tried to call him after the name of his father, Zachariah.
60. Yet his mother answered and said, No, but he shall be called John.
61. And they said to her, There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.
62. And they gestured to his father as to what he would want him to be called.
63. And asking for a tablet, he wrote, saying, John is his name. And they all marveled.
64. And his mouth was opened instantly, and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God.
65. And fear came on all those dwelling around them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these things were spread about.
66. And all who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, What then will this little child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
67. And Zachariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and accomplished redemption for His people,
69. And raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant,
70. Even as He spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old
71. Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72. To accomplish mercy with our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
73. The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74. To grant us that we, having been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
75. In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76. And you also, little child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways,
77. To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the forgiveness of their sins,
78. Because of the merciful compassions of our God, in which the rising sun will visit us from on high,
79. To shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
80. And the little child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his presentation to Israel.