hall this child be? For
the hand of the Lord was with him.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and
prophesied, saying,

68 Blessed _be_ the Lord, the God of Israel;
For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,
69 And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of his servant David
70 (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been
from of old),
71 Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate
us;
72 To show mercy towards our fathers,
And to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,
74 To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our
enemies
Should serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most
High:
For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his
ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people
In the remission of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,
79 To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of
death;
To guide our feet into the way of peace.

80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the
deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

When the aged priest, Zacharias, had received from an angel the promise
that he was to be given a son who would be called John and who would be
the herald of Christ, and when he had asked for a sign to attest the truth
of the prediction, he was smitten with dumbness as a rebuke for his
unbelief and as a stimulus for his faith. Even when at last the promise
was fulfilled, the sign was not removed and he was not able to speak until
he had given a written expression of his confidence in God. This
interesting incident occurred on the eighth day after the birth of John,
when in the presence of their rejoicing friends the parents were about to
name the child. Many supposed that the name of the father would be
selected. The mother, however, intimated that the name might be "John."
When Zacharias, the father, was consulted, "he asked for a writing tablet,
and wrote, ... His name is John." There was no hesitation,