¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse,^(A) the father of David.^(B)

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise^(A) the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”^(B)

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶² Then they made signs^(C) 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.”^(D)