Luke 1
1
1Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, 2even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, 3it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; 4that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.
5There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him. 18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. 20And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. 21And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled while he tarried in the temple. 22And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb. 23And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house. 24And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named 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 he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee. 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God. 36And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren. 37For no word from God shall be void of power. 38And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
39And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; 40and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. 41And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; 42and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? 44For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord. 46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden: For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name. 50And his mercy is unto generations and generations On them that fear him. 51He hath shewed strength with his arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. 52He hath put down princes from their thrones, And hath exalted them of low degree. 53The hungry he hath filled with good things; And the rich he hath sent empty away. 54He hath holpen Israel his servant, That he might remember mercy 55(As he spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever. 56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.
57Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58And her neighbours and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her. 59And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. 63And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. 64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God. 65And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. 66And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people, 69And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David 70(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began), 71Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72To shew mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant; 73The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father, 74To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear, 75In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; 77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people In the remission of their sins, 78Because of the tender mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us, 79To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death; To guide our feet into the way of peace. 80And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
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Luke 1
1
Luke Writes About the Life of Jesus
1Most Honorable Theophilus:
Many others have tried to give a report of the things that happened among us to complete God’s plan. 2What they have written agrees with what we learned from the people who saw those events from the beginning. They also served God by telling people his message. 3I studied it all carefully from the beginning. Then I decided to write it down for you in an organized way. 4I did this so that you can be sure that what you have been taught is true.
Zechariah and Elizabeth
5During the time when Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to Abijah’s group.#1:5 Abijah’s group Jewish priests were divided into 24 groups. See 1 Chron. 24. His wife came from the family of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. 6Zechariah and Elizabeth were both good people who pleased God. They did everything the Lord commanded, always following his instructions completely. 7But they had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.
8Zechariah was serving as a priest before God for his group. It was his group’s time to serve. 9The priests always chose one priest to offer the incense, and Zechariah was the one chosen this time. So he went into the Temple of the Lord to offer the incense. 10There was a large crowd outside praying at the time the incense was offered.
11Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah. 12When he saw the angel, Zechariah was upset and very afraid. 13But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. 14You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth. 15He will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
16“John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. 17John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.”
18Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is also old.”
19The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God. He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. 20Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But everything I said will really happen.”
21Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah. They were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple. 22Then Zechariah came outside, but he could not speak to them. So the people knew that he had seen a vision inside the Temple. He was not able to speak, so he could only make signs to the people. 23When his time of service was finished, he went home.
24Later, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth became pregnant. So she did not go out of her house for five months. She said, 25“Look what the Lord has done for me! He decided to help me. Now people will stop thinking there is something wrong with me.”
The Virgin Mary
26-27During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. 28The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord is with you; you are very special to him.”
29But Mary was very confused about what the angel said. She wondered, “What does this mean?”
30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, because God is very pleased with you. 31Listen! You will become pregnant and have a baby boy. You will name him Jesus. 32He will be great. People will call him the Son of the Most High God, and the Lord God will make him king like his ancestor David. 33He will rule over the people of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen? I am still a virgin.”
35The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High God will cover you. The baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. 36And here’s something else: Your relative Elizabeth is pregnant. She is very old, but she is going to have a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant now for six months. 37God can do anything!”
38Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me!” Then the angel went away.
Mary Visits Zechariah and Elizabeth
39Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside her jumped, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42In a loud voice she said to Mary, “God has blessed you more than any other woman. And God has blessed the baby you will have. 43You are the mother of my Lord, and you have come to me! Why has something so good happened to me? 44When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. 45Great blessings are yours because you believed what the Lord said to you! You believed this would happen.”
Mary Praises God
46Then Mary said,
“I praise the Lord with all my heart.
47I am very happy because God is my Savior.
48I am not important,
but he has shown his care for me, his lowly servant.
From now until the end of time,
people will remember how much God blessed me.
49Yes, the Powerful One has done great things for me.
His name is very holy.
50He always gives mercy
to those who worship him.
51He reached out his arm and showed his power.
He scattered those who are proud and think great things about themselves.
52He brought down rulers from their thrones
and raised up the humble people.
53He filled the hungry with good things,
but he sent the rich away with nothing.
54God has helped Israel—the people he chose to serve him.
He did not forget his promise to give us his mercy.
55He has done what he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
56Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then went home.
The Birth of John
57When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a boy. 58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord was very good to her, and they were happy for her.
59When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name. 60But his mother said, “No, he will be named John.”
61The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has that name.” 62Then they made signs to his father, “What would you like to name him?”
63Zechariah asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was surprised. 64Then Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God. 65And all their neighbors were afraid. In all the hill country of Judea, people continued talking about these things. 66Everyone who heard about these things wondered about them. They thought, “What will this child be?” They could see that the Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and told the people a message from God:
68“Praise to the Lord God of Israel.
He has come to help his people
and has given them freedom.
69He has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of his servant David.
70This is what he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71He will save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72God said he would show mercy to our fathers,
and he remembered his holy agreement.
73This was the promise he made to our father Abraham,
74a promise to free us from the power of our enemies,
so that we could serve him without fear
75in a way that is holy and right for as long as we live.
76“Now you, little boy, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go first before the Lord to prepare the way for him.
77You will make his people understand that they will be saved
by having their sins forgiven.
78“With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day#1:78 new day Literally, “dawn,” used here as a symbol, probably meaning the Lord’s Messiah. from heaven will shine on us.
79It will bring light to those who live in darkness, in the fear of death.
It will guide us into the way that brings peace.”
80And so the little boy John grew up and became stronger in spirit. Then he lived in areas away from other people until the time when he came out to tell God’s message to the people of Israel.
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