1Many people have set out to write an orderly account of the things that are most surely believed among us.
2They wrote them just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning saw these things with their own eyes and served the word.
3So it seemed good to me also, most excellent Theophilus, since I have carefully followed all these things from the very first, to write them down for you in order,
4so that you may know how certain the things are that you have been taught.
5In the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, there was a priest named Zacharias, who belonged to the division of Abia. His wife was descended from Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6They were both righteous before God, and they lived by all the commandments and rules of the Lord without blame.
7But they had no child, because Elisabeth could not have children, and they were both very old.
8Now while Zacharias was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty,
9the lot fell to him, as was the custom of the priests, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10And the whole crowd of the people were praying outside at the time when the incense was burned.
11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12When Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear came over him.
13But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John."
14"You will have joy and gladness, and many will be glad at his birth."
15"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb."
16"He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God."
17"He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18Zacharias said to the angel, "How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is very old."
19The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news."
20"Now look, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe my words. They will come true at the right time."
21The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they wondered why he stayed so long in the temple.
22When he came out, he could not speak to them. Then they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them and stayed speechless.
23When the days of his service were over, he went home.
24After those days his wife Elisabeth became pregnant. For five months she kept herself out of sight, and she said,
25"This is what the Lord has done for me. He has looked on me in these days, to take away my shame among people."
27to a virgin who was promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
28The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured. The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women."
29When she saw him, she was troubled by what he said, and she wondered what kind of greeting this could be.
30The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God."
31"Look, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him JESUS."
32"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David."
33"He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and his kingdom will never end."
34Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this happen, since I have not known a man?"
35The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. So the holy child who will be born of you will be called the Son of God."
36"And look, your relative Elisabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age. She was said to be barren, but this is her sixth month."
37"For with God nothing will be impossible."
38Mary said, "Look, I am the Lord's servant. Let it happen to me as you have said." And the angel left her.
39In those days Mary got ready and hurried to the hill country, to a town in Juda.
40She went into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elisabeth.
41When Elisabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42She called out with a loud voice and said, "You are blessed among women, and the child you carry is blessed."
43"Why has this come to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
44"For look, as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me."
45"And blessed is she who believed, for what the Lord told her will be done."
46And Mary said, "My soul praises the greatness of the Lord,"
47"and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour."
48"For he has looked with favour on his lowly servant girl. Look, from now on all generations will call me blessed."
49"For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name."
50"His mercy is on those who fear him, from generation to generation."
51"He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts."
52"He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those of low rank."
53"He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."
54"He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,"
55"as he said to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever."
56Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her own house.
57Now the time came for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.
58Her neighbours and her relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they were glad with her.
59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zacharias, after his father.
60But his mother said, "No. He will be called John."
61They said to her, "None of your relatives is called by that name."
62So they made signs to his father to ask what he wanted the child to be called.
63He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all amazed.
64At once his mouth was opened and his tongue was set free, and he spoke and praised God.
65Fear came on all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judaea.
66Everyone who heard them kept them in their hearts and said, "What kind of child will this be?" And the hand of the Lord was with him.
67His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied, saying,
68"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has come to his people and set them free."
69"He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,"
70"as he said by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have lived since the world began:"
71"that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us."
72"He did this to show the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,"
73"the oath which he swore to our father Abraham:"
74"that he would let us serve him without fear, once we were rescued from the hand of our enemies,"
75"in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life."
76"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,"
77"to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins."
78"This comes through the tender mercy of our God, by which the dawn from on high has come to us,"
79"to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace."
80The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.