Luke 1
1 Many people have set out to write
accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us.
2 They used the eyewitness reports
circulating among us from the early disciples.
3 Having carefully investigated everything
from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you,
most honorable Theophilus,
4 so you can be certain of the truth of
everything you were taught.
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was
a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of
Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of
Aaron.
6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous
in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and
regulations.
7 They had no children because Elizabeth
was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the
Temple, for his order was on duty that week.
9 As was the custom of the priests, he was
chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
10 While the incense was being burned, a
great crowd stood outside, praying.
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an
angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.
12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed
with fear when he saw him.
13But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid,
Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a
son, and you are to name him John.
14You will have great joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great in the eyes of the
Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
16And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord
their God.
17 He will be a man with the spirit and
power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will
turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who
are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
18Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be
sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in
years.”
19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I
stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good
news!
20 But now, since you didn’t believe what I
said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my
words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for
Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so
long.
22 When he finally did come out, he
couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence
that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.
23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the
Temple was over, he returned home.
24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth,
became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.
25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed.
“He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s
pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,
27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged
to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,
favored woman! The Lord is with you! ”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to
think what the angel could mean.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told
her, “for you have found favor with God!
31 You will conceive and give birth to a
son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 He will be very great and will be called
the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor
David.
33 And he will reign over Israel forever;
his Kingdom will never end!”
34Mary asked the angel, “But how can this
happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby
to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has
become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has
conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
37 For the word of God will never fail.
”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s
servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel
left her.
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the
hill country of Judea, to the town
40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the
house and greeted Elizabeth.
41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting,
Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit.
42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed
to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.
43Why am I so honored, that the mother of my
Lord should visit me?
44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in
my womb jumped for joy.
45 You are blessed because you believed
that the Lord would do what he said.”
46 Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises
the Lord.
47 How my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant
girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has
done great things for me.
50 He shows mercy from generation to
generation to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm has done tremendous
things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
52 He has brought down princes from their
thrones and exalted the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good
things and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 He has helped his servant Israel and
remembered to be merciful.
55 For he made this promise to our
ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three
months and then went back to her own home.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to
be born, she gave birth to a son.
58 And when her neighbors and relatives
heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with
her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they
all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah,
after his father.
60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is
John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one
in all your family by that name.”
62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s
father what he wanted to name him.
63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to
everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.”
64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again,
and he began praising God.
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood,
and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.
66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on
these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of
the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
67Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with
the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the
royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised through his holy
prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by
remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath to
our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies so
we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness for as
long as we live.
76 “And you, my little son, will be called
the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the
Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find
salvation through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the
morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of
peace.”
80 John grew up and became strong in
spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to
Israel.
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