Elisabeth's full season came; the promised child was born,

Neighbors heard the mercy and rejoiced into the morn.

On the eighth day kinfolk came with family names in mind,

Ready to call the infant after Zacharias' line.

But Elisabeth said, "John," and every voice objected:

No one in the household bore the name that she'd selected.

They turned toward the silent priest and placed the board along,

He wrote four words that settled it: "His name is John."

His name is John,

And the silence breaks like thunder.

His name is John,

And the hills repeat the wonder.

Prophet of the Highest,

Going on before,

Giving knowledge of salvation,

Making ready for the Lord.

His tongue was loosed at once and praise replaced the wait,

Fear moved through the hill country from house to house and gate.

"What manner of child is this?" the wondering neighbors cried,

For every sign around him said the hand of God was nigh.

Then Zacharias, Spirit-filled, looked farther than his son:

He sang of visitation and redemption now begun,

A horn of strength from David's house, the covenant still true,

The oath once sworn to Abraham coming into view.

Through tender mercy, dayspring rises,

Light for those in deathly shade.

Feet that wandered toward the darkness

Find the road of peace remade.

And the child will go before Him,

Clearing paths the Lord will tread,

Calling hearts toward forgiveness,

Guiding feet in paths of peace.

The child grew strong in spirit where the wilderness was wide,

Far from courts and crowded streets, the desert at his side.

Years would pass before the Jordan heard his uncompromising tone,

But the hill country remembered how the silent tongue had known.

His name is John,

And the silence breaks like thunder.

His name is John,

And the hills repeat the wonder.

Prophet of the Highest,

Going on before,

The dayspring is approaching,

And John will clear the road.