Luke 1

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¹Forasmuch as many have undertaken to draw up a relation concerning the matters fully believed among us,

²as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us,

³it has seemed good to me also, accurately acquainted from the origin with all things, to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed.

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abia, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.

⁶And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

⁷And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

⁸And it came to pass, as he fulfilled his priestly service before God in the order of his course,

⁹it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.

¹⁰And all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.

¹¹And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

¹²And Zacharias was troubled, seeing him, and fear fell upon him.

¹³But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, because thy supplication has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

¹⁴And he shall be to thee joy and rejoicing, and many shall rejoice at his birth.

¹⁵For he shall be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁶And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn hearts of fathers to children, and disobedient ones to the thoughts of just men, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

¹⁸And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife advanced in years?

¹⁹And the angel answering, said to him, I am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to bring these glad tidings to thee;

²⁰and behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, till the day in which these things shall take place, because thou hast not believed my words, the which shall be fulfilled in their time.

²¹And the people were awaiting Zacharias, and they wondered at his delaying in the temple.

²²But when he came out he could not speak to them, and they recognised that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he was making signs to them, and continued dumb.

²³And it came to pass, when the days of his service were completed, he departed to his house.

²⁴Now after these days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

²⁵Thus has the Lord done to me in these days in which he looked upon me to take away my reproach among men.

²⁶But in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent of God to a city of Galilee, of which the name was Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, thou favoured one! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women.

²⁹But she, seeing the angel, was troubled at his word, and reasoned in her mind what this salutation might be.

³⁰And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;

³¹and behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

³²He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;

³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for the ages, and of his kingdom there shall not be an end.

³⁴But Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man?

³⁵And the angel answering said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of the Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.

³⁶And behold, Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her that was called barren:

³⁷for nothing shall be impossible with God.

³⁸And Mary said, Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,

⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴²and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb.

⁴⁵And blessed is she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done to me great things, and holy is his name;

⁵⁰and his mercy is to generations and generations to them that fear him.

⁵¹He has wrought strength with his arm; he has scattered haughty ones in the thought of their heart.

⁵²He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty.

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant, in order to remember mercy,

⁵⁵(as he spoke to our fathers,) to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her house.

⁵⁷But the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth that she should bring forth, and she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹And it came to pass on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called it after the name of his father, Zacharias.

⁶⁰And his mother answering said, No; but he shall be called John.

⁶¹And they said to her, There is no one among thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.

⁶²And they made signs to his father as to what he might wish it to be called.

⁶³And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered.

⁶⁴And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he spake, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came upon all who dwelt round about them; and in the whole hill-country of Judaea all these things were the subject of conversation.

⁶⁶And all who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then will this child be? And the Lord's hand was with him.

⁶⁷And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people,

⁶⁹and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;

⁷⁰as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began;

⁷¹deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us;

⁷²to fulfil mercy with our fathers and remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,

⁷⁴to give us, that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear

⁷⁵in piety and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways;

⁷⁷to give knowledge of deliverance to his people by the remission of their sins

⁷⁸on account of the bowels of mercy of our God; wherein the dayspring from on high has visited us,

⁷⁹to shine upon them who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

⁸⁰— And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit; and he was in the deserts until the day of his shewing to Israel.