Benedictus

The Benedictus is a canticle from the New Testament of the Christian bible. The text, from the Gospel of Luke (1:68-79), is said to have been spoken by the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. He had been struck dumb when the angel Gabriel told him that he and his wife should have a child, 'although they were advanced in years'. When he performed the angel's bidding and insisted that his son should be called John, in defiance of the Jewish tradition that he should be called after his father, he could speak, and said this:

Latin	English (AV)	Etcetera
Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel; quia visitavit et fecit redemptionem plebi suae	Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
et erexit cornu salutis nobis, in domo David pueri sui,	And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David	BCP: And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us
sicut locutus est per os sanctorum, qui a saeculo sunt, prophetarum eius,	As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
salutem ex inimicis nostris, et de manu omnium, qui oderunt nos;	That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris, et memorari testamenti sui sancti,	To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
iusiurandum, quod iuravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum, daturum se nobis,	The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,	BCP: To perform the oath which he sware
ut sine timore, de manu inimicorum liberati, serviamus illi	That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
in sanctitate et iustitia coram ipso omnibus diebus nostris.	In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
Et tu, puer, propheta Altissimi vocaberis: praeibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias eius,	And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi eius in remissionem peccatorum eorum,	To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,	BCP: for the remission...
per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri, in quibus visitabit nos oriens ex alto,	Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
illuminare his, qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent, ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.	To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.