twenty) to the river Jordan, and cast their divining arrows on the understanding that he whose arrow should become steady in the water and rise should be_ [acknowledged] _most worthy of her; and the arrow of Zechariah became steady, and he took her, and built for her a chamber in the temple, with stairs to which no one ascended but himself. And he used to bring her her food and her drink and her ointment; and used to find with her the fruits of winter in summer, and the fruits of summer in winter, as He—whose name be exalted!—hath said_, And Zechariah maintained her. Whenever Zechariah went in to her in the chamber, he found with her provisions. He said, O Mary, whence came to thee this? She answered, (_being then a little child_,) It is from God: _He bringeth it to me from Paradise_: for God supplieth whom He pleaseth without reckoning. Then, _when he saw this, and knew that He who was able to produce a thing out of its season was able to give a child in old age, (and the people of his house had become extinct,)_ Zechariah supplicated his Lord, _when he had entered the chamber to pray in the latter part of the night_. He said, O my Lord, give me from Thee a good offspring (_a righteous son_); for Thou art the Hearer of prayer.—And the angels (_by which is meant Gabriel_) called to him as he stood praying in the chamber (_that is, the temple_), saying, God promiseth thee John [Yaḥyá], who shall be a verifier of [the] Word _which cometh_ from God, (_that is, Jesus_ [´Eesa]; _for he is the Spirit of God, and was named_ [the] _Word because he was created by the word Be_,) and a chief, (_or one followed_,) and chaste, and a prophet, of the righteous. (_It is related that he neither did any sin nor intended any._)—He said, O my Lord, how shall I have a son, when old age hath come upon me, _when I have attained the utmost age, a hundred and twenty years_, and my wife is barren, _and hath attained the age of eight and ninety_?—He answered, _It shall be_ thus. God will do what He pleaseth.—He said, O my Lord, give me a sign.—He replied, Thy sign [shall be] that thou shalt not speak unto men for three days, except by signal; but remember thy Lord often, and glorify [Him] in the evening and in the morning. (iii. 31-36.)