Luke 1

1Since many have undertaken to compose an orderly account concerning those matters fully accomplished among us,

2as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us

3I too decided, having accurately traced all things from the beginning, to write you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus.

4that you might know the certainty regarding those matters in which you were instructed.

5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias from Abia's course, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron whose name was Elisabeth.

6Both were righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

7But they had no child, because Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their years.

8Now it happened while he was ministering as priest before God in the order of his division.

9According to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense upon entering the temple of the Lord.

10And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

11An angel of the Lord then appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

12And when Zechariah saw him, he was shaken, and fear gripped him.

13But the angel said to him, "Do not fear, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elisabeth will bear a son to you, and you will call his name John."

14Joy and exultation will be yours, and many will rejoice at his birth.

15For he will be great before the Lord, and he will drink no wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

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

17And he will go before him with the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn fathers' hearts to children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people fully ready.

18And Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife has advanced far in her years."

19The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to proclaim good news to you—these things."

20And look, you will be mute and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not trust my words, which will be fulfilled in their due season.

21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they marveled at his delay in the temple.

22When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept beckoning to them and remained speechless.

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

24After these days his wife Elisabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying,

25Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked upon me to remove my reproach among people.

26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth.

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

28And coming to her, he said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

29But she was troubled by the word and reasoned what kind of greeting this might be.

30And the angel said to her, "Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God."

31And look, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.

32He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.

34Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I do not know a man?"

35The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the holy one being born will be called the Son of God."

36And see, Elisabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age too, and this is the sixth month for her who is called barren.

37For no word will be impossible with God.

38Mary said, "Look, the Lord's servant; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

39Mary arose in those days and hastened into the hill country, to a city of Judah.

40And she entered Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth.

41When Elisabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

42And she cried out with a loud shout and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

43And from where does this come to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44Behold, for as the voice of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

45And blessed is she who believed, because there will be a fulfillment of those things spoken to her from the Lord.

46And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord."

47And my spirit has exulted in God my Savior.

48Because he has looked upon his servant's lowliness—for see, from now on all generations will call me blessed.

49Because the mighty one has done great things for me, and his name is holy.

50And his mercy is from generation to generation for those who fear him.

51He has wielded power with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble.

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

54He has helped Israel, his servant, to remember mercy.

55as he said to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his offspring for all time.

56Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her house.

57Now the time for Elisabeth to give birth arrived, and she bore a son.

58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.

59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias by his father's name.

60And his mother answered, saying, “No, but he will be called John.”

61And they said to her, "No one among your kin is called by this name."

62And they made signs to his father, asking what he might wish him called.

63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, "His name is John." And they all marveled.

64His mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God.

65And fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these sayings were talked about throughout the whole hill country of Judea.

66And all who heard kept them in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

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

68Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, because he visited and accomplished redemption for his people.

69And he raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant.

70as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old

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

72to show mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

73the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us

74being rescued from the hand of our enemies to serve him without fear

75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.

77to give knowledge of salvation to his people through forgiveness of their sins

78Through the compassionate mercy of our God, by which the sunrise from the heights will visit us.

79to shine upon those sitting in darkness and death's shadow, to direct our feet into the way of peace.

80Now the child grew and became strong in spirit, and remained in the wilderness until the day of his manifestation to Israel.