²⁶ I will make your tongue stick to the roof^(A) of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.^(B)

²⁷ But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’^(A) Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.^(B)

²⁷ At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent.^(A) So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.^(B)”

²¹ “On that day I will make a horn^[a](A) grow for the Israelites, and I will open your mouth^(B) among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.^(C)”

²² Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me,^(A) and he opened my mouth^(B) before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.^(C)

²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak^(A) until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs^(B) to them but remained unable to speak.

⁶² Then they made signs^(A) to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”^{(B) 64} Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak,^(C) praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea^(D) people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.^(E)