Zechariah's Prophecy (The Benedictus)

68

"Praised be ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, because he has visited and made a ransom to liberate his people

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by raising up for us a mighty Deliverer who is a descendant of his servant David.

70

It is just as he has spoken through the mouth of the prophets from the very beginning --

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that we should be delivered from our enemies and from the power of all who hate us.

72

"This has happened so that he might show the mercy promised to our fathers -- that he would remember his holy covenant,

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the oath he swore before Avraham avinu

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to grant us that we, freed from our enemies, would serve him without fear,

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in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

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You, child, will be called a prophet of Ha`Elyon; you will go before the Lord to prepare his way

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by spreading the knowledge among his people that deliverance comes by having sins forgiven

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through our God's most tender mercy, which causes the Sunrise to visit us from Heaven,

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to shine on those in darkness, living in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the paths of peace."