he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
Parallel translations
- WEB according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
- KJV According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
- NKJV according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
- NASB according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
- NLT As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
By lot, Zacharias was chosen to enter the temple and burn incense. This was a rare and sacred privilege.
Overview
Casting lots was used to assign temple duties, and burning incense in the holy place may have been a once-in-a-lifetime honor for a priest. The rising incense symbolized the prayers of God's people. Into this sacred act, God breaks in with the announcement of the coming forerunner.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Chr 29:11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”
- 1 Chr 23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.
- Exod 30:7–8And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.
- Num 16:40just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his followers.
- 1 Sam 2:28And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire.
- Heb 9:6When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties.
- 2 Chr 26:16But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
- 1 Chr 6:49But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the Most Holy Place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
- Exod 37:25–29He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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