Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah, was a priest. He was doing his work as a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before him. He was terrified. But the angel said to him, "Zechariah, don't be afraid. I've come to tell you that God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will have a son. You will name him John. Both of you will be very happy when he's born. Many other people will rejoice as well.

John will be a great man of God. He mustn't have any strong drink. He'll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he's born. He'll bring many of the people of Israel back to God. The Lord will be coming soon, and John is to get the Lord's people ready for his coming."

"How can I be sure that this will happen?" asked Zechariah. "Both my wife and I are old." "I'm Gabriel," the angel answered. "God has sent me to tell you this good news. What I've told you will take place, but because you don't believe my words, you'll be unable to speak until the day my words come true."

The people wondered why Zechariah was in the Temple for so long. When he came out of the Temple, he was unable to speak, so they realised that he had seen a vision in there.

After Zechariah had finished his work in the Temple, he returned to his home in the hill country of Judea.

Not long after this, Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant. For the next five months, she did not leave her house. She said, "Now at last, the Lord has helped me. He has taken away my
shame - the shame of not being able to have a child."

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, her relative, Mary, came to see her. As soon as she heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb jumped for joy, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She said to Mary in a loud voice, "You are the most blessed among women. And this child you'll have, will be blessed. Why should my Lord's mother come to see me?"

Mary said,
"My heart praises the Lord,
And my soul rejoices in God my Saviour,
For he has remembered me, his humble servant.
From now on, people will call me blessed,
For the Almighty God has done great things for me."

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

When Elizabeth gave birth to her son, she was full of joy. Her neighbours and relatives heard how the Lord had blessed her, and they rejoiced with her.

When the baby was a week old, it was time for him to be named. They wanted to call him Zechariah, because that was his father's name. But his mother said, "No! We'll name him John." They said to her, "But none of your relatives are named John." Then they turned to Zechariah and asked him, "What name do you want to give him?" Zechariah was still unable to speak, so he wrote these words - "His name is John."

As soon as Zechariah had written - "His name is John," he was able to speak again. All the people living in the hill country of Judea heard about these things and they were amazed. They could see that the Lord's power was on the child. They said to one another, "What is this child going to become when he's older?"

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he spoke the word of God. He said,

"Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
He has come to help his people and set them free.
He has sent us a great Saviour.
This Saviour, a descendant of David, was promised to us long ago.
God promised that this Saviour would save us from our enemies, and that he would help us to be good, and to serve him without fear.
And you, my child, will be called the prophet of the Most High God.
You will get the people ready for the Lord when he comes.
You will tell the people how they can be saved from their sins and have peace."

John, the son of Zechariah, grew up and became a man strong in spirit. He lived in the desert of Judea. He led a very simple life. He wore clothes made of camel's hair, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

One day, God spoke to John in the desert. He told him to preach his word to the people of Israel. So John started preaching God's word in the desert of Judea. He said, "Turn away from your sins and be baptised, and God will forgive your sins." Long ago a prophet called Isaiah had said, "Someone is calling in the desert, 'Get ready for the coming of the Lord! Get ready for the coming of the Lord!' " John was the man Isaiah was talking about.

Many people from Jerusalem and all over Judea came to hear John preach. Many of them believed what he said to them. They confessed their sins, and he baptised them in the River Jordan. He was known as John the Baptist.

John said to the people, "Show that you've turned from your sins by what you do." The people asked him, "What are we to do?" John answered, "If you have two shirts, you must give one to the man who hasn't got one. If you have food, you must share it with other people."

John's preaching became well-known all over Israel. Everywhere people were talking about what he was preaching. They began to wonder whether he was the Messiah they were waiting for. Some Jewish leaders were sent from Jerusalem to speak to John. They asked him, "Who are you?" John answered, "I'm not the Messiah." They said, "Then tell us who you are." John answered, "I'm just someone calling in the desert, 'The Lord is coming! The Lord is coming! Get ready for his coming.' " Then they asked John, "Why do you baptise?" John answered, "I baptise with water. I get people ready for the man who will come after me. He will come after me, but he is greater than I. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

While John was baptising the people, some Jewish leaders also came along. When John saw them he said, "You snakes! Do you think you can escape God's punishment by just saying, 'Abraham is our ancestor'? Show that you've turned away from your sins by doing what is right. I baptise you with water to show that you are sorry for your sins. But someone else will be coming to baptise. He will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will come after me, but he's much greater than I. I'm not good enough to carry his sandals."

John went all over Judea and preached the Good News to the people. He told them to be sorry for their sins and to do what was right. Crowds went to hear him preach. Many of the people believed what he preached. They confessed their sins and were baptised. Some of them became John's disciples, and went around with him doing God's work.

Not long after that, Jesus left Nazareth in Galilee, and came to the River Jordan, where John was baptising. After all the people had been baptised, Jesus said, "John, I want you to baptise me." John tried to make him change his mind. He said to Jesus, "I'm the one who should be baptised by you, and yet you have come to me!" Jesus said, "We'll do it because this is what God wants us to do."

They went down into the river, and John baptised him. As soon as Jesus came out of the water, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and stayed on him. A voice came from heaven saying, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him."

The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him. He said, "Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke about when I said, 'A man is coming after me. He is coming after me, but he is greater than I, because he existed before
I was born.' At that time, I myself did not know who he would be.
I came baptising with water so that the people of Israel might know who he is."

Then John told the people what happened when he baptised Jesus. He said, "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove, and stay on him. God, who sent me to baptise with water, had said to me, 'You will see the Spirit come down from heaven and stay on a man. He is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.' I've seen this happen, and I tell you he's the Son of God."

The next day, John was with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus walking by, he said to them, "Look! The Lamb of God!" The two disciples immediately left John when he said this, and they followed Jesus. They became Jesus' disciples.

One day some of John's disciples went to John and said, "Do you remember the man who was with you by the River Jordan - the one you spoke about? He's baptising now, and crowds are going to him." John answered, "A man can only have what God gives to him. You have heard me say, 'I'm not the Messiah, but I've been sent to get people ready for his coming.' He has come, and this has given me much joy. He must become more important, and I must become less important."

The Jewish leaders also heard that Jesus was baptising more people than John. Actually, that was not true, because Jesus did not baptise anyone. It was his disciples who baptised people. When Jesus heard that people were saying, "Jesus is baptising more people than John," he left Judea and went back to Galilee.

At that time, King Herod was the ruler of Galilee. He was the son of the King Herod who had all the baby boys in Bethlehem killed, after Jesus was born.

Herod was married to Herodias, even though she was the wife of his brother Philip. John the Baptist said to Herod many times, "It is not right for you to be married to your brother's wife." He also spoke against other evil things which Herod had done. This made Herod very angry and he put John in prison.

As soon as John was put in prison by Herod, Jesus began preaching. He went all over Galilee preaching the Good News and performing miracles, and crowds followed him. People who were sick or lame or blind or had evil spirits came to him, and he healed all of them.

When John heard about what Jesus was doing, he sent his disciples to speak to him. They went to Jesus and asked him, "Are you the man John said was coming, or should we wait for someone else?" Jesus answered, "Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard - the blind can see, the lame can walk, the sick are healed and the Good News is preached to the poor." The old prophets had said that when the Messiah came, he would do all these things. So when his disciples told John what Jesus had said, he was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah.

Herodias hated John because he had said that it was wrong for Herod to be married to her. She wanted to kill him, but she could not because Herod protected him. Herod was afraid of John because he knew that John was a good and holy man. He liked to listen to him, even though what John said always upset him.

On Herod's birthday, Herodias got her chance. Herod gave a banquet for the high officials and other important people of Galilee. Herodias' daughter came in and danced. She pleased Herod so much that he said to her, "I'll give you anything you want - even up to half my kingdom." She went to her mother and said, "What shall I ask for?" She answered, "The head of John the Baptist." The girl quickly went back to Herod and said, "I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a dish immediately." This upset Herod very much, but he could not refuse her. He had promised to give her anything up to half his kingdom, so he had to keep his promise. He immediately sent a guard to the prison to get John's head. The guard went to the prison and cut off John's head. He brought it on a dish and gave it to the girl. She took it and gave it to her mother.

When John's disciples heard about this, they went to the prison. They took his body and put it in a tomb.

John had finished his work for God. He had helped the people of Israel to get ready for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus said of John, "He's greater than any man who has ever lived."