3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus;
4 that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisheva.
6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elisheva was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.
8 Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.