Luke 1:20 (ASV)

Passage

And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Nearby Context

Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Luke 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.

Luke 1:20 And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Luke 1:21 And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried in the temple.

Luke 1:22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "thou", "shalt", "silent", "able", "speak", "until", and "things". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And the angel answering said unto him..." into verse 21's "And the people were waiting for Zacharias...", so "behold" and "thou" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.