Luke 1:49-72

⁴⁹because they will hear about the things that God MTY, the mighty one, has done for me. He MTY is awesome!

⁵⁰He acts mercifully toward all those who respect him.

⁵¹He shows people that he MTY is very powerful. He scatters those who think proudly.

⁵²He does not let mighty kings rule MTY anymore, but he honors people who are oppressed (OR, humble).

⁵³He gives good things to eat to those who are hungry, but he sends away the rich people without giving them anything.

⁵⁴He promised to Abraham and all our other ancestors who descended from him that he would act mercifully toward them forever. And now he has remembered what he promised. So he has helped me and all the other people of MTY Israel who serve him.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home.

⁵⁷When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth to her child, she bore a son.

⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard how ◄the Lord/God► had greatly blessed her by enabling her to bear a child, so they were happy along with Elizabeth.

⁵⁹Seven days later they gathered together for the ceremony for circumcising the baby to show that he belonged to God. They wanted to give the baby the same name as his father, Zechariah..

⁶⁰But his mother said, “No, his name will not be Zechariah. His name will be John!”

⁶¹So they said to her, “ John is not the name of any of your (dl) relatives, so you(dl) should not give him that name!”

⁶²Then they made motions with their hands to Zechariah, for him to indicate what name he wanted to be given {to give} to his son.

⁶³So he signaled that they should give him a tablet to write on. When they gave him one, he wrote on it, “His name is John.” All those who were there were surprised!

⁶⁴Immediately Zechariah was able to speak again MTY, and he praised God.

⁶⁵All their neighbors were amazed/awestruck! They told other people who lived all over the highlands of Judea about what had happened.

⁶⁶Everyone who heard about it kept thinking about it. They were saying, “We wonder what will this child do for God when he grows up RHQ!” They wondered that because from what had happened they were sure that God would be helping that child SYN in a powerful way.

⁶⁷After Zechariah's son was born, Zechariah was completely directed by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit completely directed Zechariah} as he spoke these words that came from God:

⁶⁸“Praise the Lord, the God whom we(inc) people of Israel worship, because he has come to set us, his people, free from our enemies.

⁶⁹He is sending us someone who will powerfully MTY save us, someone who is descended from MTY King David, who served God well.

⁷⁰Long ago God caused his prophets to say that he would do that.

⁷¹He will rescue us from our enemies, and he will save us from the power of all those who hate us.

⁷²He will do this because he has not forgotten what he promised our ancestors; he made an agreement that he would act mercifully to us, their descendants.