Introduction
Luke 1Many have undertaken to compose a narrative about the things which have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us from those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning. Having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, it seemed good to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you might know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
During the reign of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was one of the daughters of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commands and decrees of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth could not conceive, and they both were very old.
Now while Zechariah was serving as a priest before God when his division was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. The whole crowd of people were praying outside at the hour of incense offering.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw the angel, he was terrified and fear gripped him. But the angel told him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or spirits, but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the parents to the children,’+Mal 4:6 and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Now listen: because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their appointed time, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and marveled that he was delayed in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, because he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he departed to his house. Some time after this, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “The Lord done this for me in the days when ʜᴇ looked at me, to take away my reproach among humans.”
An Angel Announces Jesus’s Conception, and Mary Consents
Now in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to hear and said, “Rejoice, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
But she was deeply troubled at his words and began to wonder what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Listen: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his empire will never end.”
Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”
The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the one who is to be born will be holy and will be called the Son of God. And look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age. She who was called barren is now in her sixth month! For no word from God will ever fail to happen.
Mary said, “Yes, I am a slave of the Lord. Let this happen to me according to your word.”
Then, the angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Soon afterward, Mary arose and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah, where she entered the house of Zachariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaimed with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For the moment when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy in my womb! Blessed is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill what he said to her!”
Mary’s Song
Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for ʜᴇ has looked upon the humble state of his slave. Surely, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is ʜɪꜱ name. Hɪꜱ mercy is upon generations after generations on those who fear ʜɪᴍ. Hᴇ has done mighty deeds with ʜɪꜱ arm. Hᴇ has scattered those who are arrogant in their hearts and minds. Hᴇ has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted the humble. Hᴇ has filled the hungry with good things. And ʜᴇ has sent the rich away empty. Hᴇ has helped to his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, as ʜᴇ spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned to her home.
The Birth of John the Baptizer
Now the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zachariah after his father. His mother answered, “No! He is to be called John.”
They said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.” They made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him to be called.
He asked for a writing tablet on which he wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marveled.
Immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, blessing God. Fear came upon everyone who lived around them, and throughout all the hill country of Judea people were talking about all that had happened. Everyone who heard them took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child become?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zechariah’s Song
His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for ʜᴇ has visited and redeemed ʜɪꜱ people. Hᴇ has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of ʜɪꜱ servant David As ʜᴇ said by the mouth of ʜɪꜱ holy prophets from long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy toward our ancestors, to remember ʜɪꜱ holy covenant, the oath which ʜᴇ swore to our father Abraham: that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, should serve ʜɪᴍ without fear, in holiness and righteousness before ʜɪᴍ all of our days. And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare ʜɪꜱ ways, to give ʜɪꜱ people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.