Luke 1
1 Forasmuch as many have undertaken to draw up a relation concerning the matters fully believed among us,
As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,
2 as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us,
As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,
3 it has seemed good to me also, accurately acquainted from the origin with all things, to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus,
It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus;
4 that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed.
So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.
5 There 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.
In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.
7 And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.
8 And it came to pass, as he fulfilled his priestly service before God in the order of his course,
Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God,
9 it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.
And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.
10 And all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.
And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.
11 And an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.
And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.
12 And Zacharias was troubled, seeing [him], and fear fell upon him.
And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.
13 But 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.
But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.
14 And he shall be to thee joy and rejoicing, and many shall rejoice at his birth.
And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.
15 For 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.
For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.
16 And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to [the] Lord their God.
And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.
17 And 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.
And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife advanced in years?
And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.
19 And 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;
And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.
20 and 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.
Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.
21 And the people were awaiting Zacharias, and they wondered at his delaying in the temple.
And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.
22 But 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.
And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words.
23 And it came to pass, when the days of his service were completed, he departed to his house.
And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.
24 Now after these days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men's eyes for five months, saying,
25 Thus has [the] Lord done to me in [these] days in which he looked upon [me] to take away my reproach among men.
The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.
26 But in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent of God to a city of Galilee, of which [the] name [was] Nazareth,
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name [was] Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name [was] Mary.
To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
28 And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, [thou] favoured one! the Lord [is] with thee: [blessed art thou amongst women].
And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.
29 But she, [seeing] [the angel], was troubled at his word, and reasoned in her mind what this salutation might be.
But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words?
30 And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;
And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval.
31 and behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called Son of [the] Highest; and [the] Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;
He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:
33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for the ages, and of his kingdom there shall not be an end. (aiōn g165)
He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. (aiōn g165)
34 But Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man?
And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?
35 And 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.
And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.
36 And 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:
Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.
37 for nothing shall be impossible with God.
For there is nothing which God is not able to do.
38 And Mary said, Behold the bondmaid of [the] Lord; be it to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.
39 And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah;
40 and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.
And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms.
41 And 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,
And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit,
42 and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed [art] thou amongst women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb.
And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.
43 And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
44 For behold, as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb.
For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.
45 And blessed [is] she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from [the] Lord.
Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.
46 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,
And Mary said: My soul gives glory to God;
47 and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
My spirit is glad in God my Saviour.
48 For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.
49 For the Mighty One has done to me great things, and holy [is] his name;
For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.
50 and his mercy [is] to generations and generations to them that fear him.
His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.
51 He has wrought strength with his arm; he has scattered haughty [ones] in the thought of their heart.
With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.
52 He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.
He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty.
Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands;
54 He has helped Israel his servant, in order to remember mercy,
His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,
As he gave his word to our fathers. (aiōn g165)
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her house.
And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.
57 But the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth that she should bring forth, and she gave birth to a son.
Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.
58 And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that [the] Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.
And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy.
59 And 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.
And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name;
60 And his mother answering said, No; but he shall be called John.
But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.
61 And they said to her, There is no one among thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.
And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.
62 And they made signs to his father as to what he might wish it to be called.
And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.
63 And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered.
And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he spake, blessing God.
And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God.
65 And 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.
And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.
66 And 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.
And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And Zacharias his father was filled with [the] Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words:
68 Blessed be [the] Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people,
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,
69 and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;
Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by [the] mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began; (aiōn g165)
(As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times, ) (aiōn g165)
71 deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us;
Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;
72 to fulfil mercy with our fathers and remember his holy covenant,
To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,
73 [the] oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,
74 to give us, that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear
That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,
75 in piety and righteousness before him all our days.
In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.
76 And 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;
And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways;
77 to give knowledge of deliverance to his people by [the] remission of their sins
To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins,
78 on account of [the] bowels of mercy of our God; wherein [the] dayspring from on high has visited us,
Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,
79 to shine upon them who were sitting in darkness and in [the] shadow of death, to guide our feet into [the] way of peace.
To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided 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.
And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.
