Luke 1
1 Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured among us,
To his Excellency, Theophilus. Many attempts have been already made to draw up an account of those events which have reached their conclusion among us,
2 as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, —
just as they were reported to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and afterward became bearers of the message.
3 it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus,
And, therefore, I also, since I have investigated all these events with great care from their very beginning, have resolved to write a connected history of them for you,
4 that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed.
in order that you may be able to satisfy yourself of the accuracy of the story which you have heard from the lips of others.
5 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;
In the reign of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division called after Abijah. His wife, whose name was Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron.
6 and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless,
They were both righteous people, who lived blameless lives, guiding their steps by all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
7 and they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days.
But they had no child, Elizabeth being barren; and both of them were advanced in years.
8 And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God,
One day, when Zechariah was officiating as priest before God, during the turn of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,
it fell to him by lot, in accordance with the practice among the priests, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense;
10 and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
and, as it was the Hour of Incense, the people were all praying outside.
11 And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume,
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the Altar of Incense.
12 and Zacharias, having seen, was troubled, and fear fell on him;
Zechariah was startled at the sight and was awe-struck.
13 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,
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, whom you will call by the name John.
14 and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy,
He will be to you a joy and a delight; and many will rejoice over his birth.
15 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;
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth,
16 and many of the sons of Israel he shall turn to the Lord their God,
and will reconcile many of the Israelites to the Lord their God.
17 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.'
He will go before him in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, to reconcile fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
18 And Zacharias said unto the messenger, 'Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?'
“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 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,
“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered, “who stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 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 now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I said, though my words will be fulfilled in due course.”
21 And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,
Meanwhile the people were watching for Zechariah, wondering at his remaining so long in the Temple.
22 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.
When he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision there. But Zechariah kept making signs to them, and remained dumb.
23 And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house,
And, as soon as his term of service was finished, he returned home.
24 and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying —
After this his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and lived in seclusion for five months.
25 'Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon [me], to take away my reproach among men.'
“The Lord has done this for me,” she said, “he has shown me kindness and taken away the public disgrace of childlessness under which I have been living.”
26 And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth,
Six months later the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary.
to a maiden there who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. Her name was Mary.
28 And the messenger having come in unto her, said, 'Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;'
Gabriel came into her presence and greeted her, saying, “You have been shown great favor – the Lord is with you.”
29 and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be.
Mary was much disturbed at his words, and was wondering to herself what such a greeting could mean,
30 And the messenger said to her, 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;
when the angel spoke again, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus;
And now, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus.
32 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,
The child will be great and will be called ‘Son of the Most High,’ and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David,
33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.' (aiōn g165)
and he will reign over the descendants of Jacob for ever; And to his kingdom there will be no end.” (aiōn g165)
34 And Mary said unto the messenger, 'How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?'
“How can this be?” Mary asked the angel. “For I have no husband.”
35 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;
“The Holy Spirit will descend on you,” answered the angel, “and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore the child will be called ‘holy,’ and ‘Son of God.’
36 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;
And Elizabeth, your cousin, is herself also expecting a son in her old age; and it is now the sixth month with her, though she is called barren;
37 because nothing shall be impossible with God.'
for no promise from God will fail to be fulfilled.”
38 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.
“I am the servant of the Lord,” exclaimed Mary. “Let it be with me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
39 And Mary having arisen in those days, went to the hill-country, with haste, to a city of Judea,
Soon after this Mary set out, and made her way quickly into the hill-country, to a town in Judah;
40 and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
and there she went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.
41 And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe did leap in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child moved within her, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit,
42 and spake out with a loud voice, and said, 'Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb;
and cried aloud, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your unborn child!
43 and whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord might come unto me?
But how have I this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 for, lo, when the voice of thy salutation came to my ears, leap in gladness did the babe in my womb;
For, as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the child moved within me with delight!
45 and happy [is] she who did believe, for there shall be a completion to the things spoken to her from the Lord.'
Happy indeed is she who believed that the promise which she received from the Lord would be fulfilled.”
46 And Mary said, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord,
47 And my spirit was glad on God my Saviour,
and my spirit delights in God my Savior,
48 Because He looked on the lowliness of His maid-servant, For, lo, henceforth call me happy shall all the generations,
for he has looked with favor on his humble servant girl. From now on all generations will call me blessed!
49 For He who is mighty did to me great things, And holy [is] His name,
“For the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And His kindness [is] to generations of generations, To those fearing Him,
He has mercy on those who revere him in every generation.
51 He did powerfully with His arm, He scattered abroad the proud in the thought of their heart,
“Mighty are the deeds of his arm! He has scattered the self-satisfied proud,
52 He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly,
he has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and he uplifts the humble,
53 The hungry He did fill with good, And the rich He sent away empty,
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He received again Israel His servant, To remember kindness,
“He has stretched out his hand to his servant Israel, ever mindful of his mercy,
as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants for ever.” (aiōn g165)
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and turned back to her house.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home.
57 And to Elisabeth was the time fulfilled for her bringing forth, and she bare a son,
When Elizabeth’s time came, she gave birth to a son;
58 and the neighbours and her kindred heard that the Lord was making His kindness great with her, and they were rejoicing with her.
and her neighbors and relatives, hearing of the great goodness of the Lord to her, came to share her joy.
59 And it came to pass, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias,
A week later they met to circumcise the child, and were about to call him Zechariah after his father,
60 and his mother answering said, 'No, but he shall be called John.'
when his mother spoke up, “No, he is to be called John.”
61 And they said unto her — 'There is none among thy kindred who is called by this name,'
“You have no relation of that name!” they exclaimed;
62 and they were making signs to his father, what he would wish him to be called,
and they made signs to the child’s father, to find out what he wished the child to be called.
63 and having asked for a tablet, he wrote, saying, 'John is his name;' and they did all wonder;
Asking for a writing tablet, he wrote the words – ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was surprised
64 and his mouth was opened presently, and his tongue, and he was speaking, praising God.
and immediately Zechariah recovered his voice and the use of his tongue, and began to bless God.
65 And fear came upon all those dwelling around them, and in all the hill-country of Judea were all these sayings spoken of,
All their neighbors were awe-struck at this, and throughout the hill-country of Judea the whole story was much talked about.
66 and all who heard did lay them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then shall this child be?' and the hand of the Lord was with him.
All who heard it kept it in mind, asking one another – “What can this child be destined to become?” For the Power of the Lord was with him.
67 And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and did prophesy, saying,
Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, speaking under inspiration, said:
68 'Blessed [is] the Lord, the God of Israel, Because He did look upon, And wrought redemption for His people,
“Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who has visited his people and wrought their deliverance,
69 And did raise an horn of salvation to us, In the house of David His servant,
and has raised up for us the strength of our salvation in the house of his servant David –
as he promised by the lips of his holy prophets of old – (aiōn g165)
71 Salvation from our enemies, And out of the hand of all hating us,
salvation from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,
72 To do kindness with our fathers, And to be mindful of His holy covenant,
showing mercy to our ancestors, and mindful of his sacred covenant.
73 An oath that He sware to Abraham our father,
This was the oath which he swore to our ancestor Abraham –
74 To give to us, without fear, Out of the hand of our enemies having been delivered,
that we should be rescued from the hands of our enemies,
75 To serve Him, in holiness and righteousness Before Him, all the days of our life.
and should serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness, in his presence all our days.
76 And thou, child, Prophet of the Highest Shalt thou be called; For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, To prepare His ways.
And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready his way,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people In remission of their sins,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercies of our God, In which the rising from on high did look upon us,
through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dawn will break on us from heaven,
79 To give light to those sitting in darkness and death-shade, To guide our feet to a way of peace.'
to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, and guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit, and he was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilds until the time came for his appearance before Israel.
