Luke 1:1-38

Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured among us, as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, — it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus, that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth; and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless, and they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days. And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord, and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume. And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume, and Zacharias, having seen, was troubled, and fear fell on him; and the messenger said unto him, ‘Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John, and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy, for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother's womb; and many of the sons of Israel he shall turn to the Lord their God, and he shall go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn hearts of fathers unto children, and disobedient ones to the wisdom of righteous ones, to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared.’ And Zacharias said unto the messenger, ‘Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?’ And the messenger answering said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee, and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.’ And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary, and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb. And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house, and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying — ‘Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon [me], to take away my reproach among men.’ And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth, to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary. And the messenger having come in unto her, said, ‘Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;’ and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be. And the messenger said to her, ‘Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.’ And Mary said unto the messenger, ‘How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?’ And the messenger answering said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; because nothing shall be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,’ and the messenger went away from her.