Luke
Introduction
Many have un der tak en to draw up an
1 ac count of the things that have been a
ful filled among us , 2 just as they were hand ed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word . 3 With this in mind , since I my self have carefully investigated everything from the be gin ning , I too de cid ed to write an orderly account for you , most excellent Theophilus , 4 so that you may know the certain ty of the things you have been taught .
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Her od king of Ju dea there was a priest named Zechariah , who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah ; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron . 6 Both of them were righ teous in the sight of God , ob serv ing all the Lord ’ s commands and decrees blamelessly . 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to con ceive , and they were both very old .
8 Once when Zechariah ’ s division was on duty and he was serv ing as priest be fore God , 9 he was cho sen by lot , ac cord ing to the cus tom of the priest hood , to go into the tem ple of the Lord and burn in cense . 10 And when the time for the burn ing of incense came , all the assembled worshipers were praying outside .
11 Then an an gel of the Lord ap peared to him , stand ing at the right side of the al tar of incense . 12 When Zech a ri ah saw him , he was star tled and was gripped with fear . 13 But the an gel said to him : “ Do not be afraid , Zech a ri ah ; your prayer has been heard . Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son , and you are to call him John . 14 He will be a joy and de light to you , and many will re joice be cause of his birth , 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord . He is nev er to take wine or oth er fer ment ed drink , and he will be filled with the Holy Spir it even be fore he is born . 16 He will bring back many of the peo ple of Is ra el to the Lord their God . 17 And he will go on be fore the Lord , in the spir it and pow er of Eli jah , to turn the hearts of the par ents to their chil dren and the dis obe di ent to the wis dom of the righ teous — to make ready a peo ple pre pared for the Lord .”
18 Zechariah asked the angel , “ How can I be sure of this ? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years .”
19 The an gel said to him , “ I am Ga bri el . I stand in the pres ence of God , and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news . 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak un til the day this hap pens , be cause you did not be lieve my words , which will come true at their appointed time .”
21 Mean while , the peo ple were wait ing for Zech a ri ah and won der ing why he stayed so long in the tem ple . 22 When he came out , he could not speak to them . They re al ized he had seen a vi sion in the tem ple , for he kept mak ing signs to them but re mained un able to speak .
23 When his time of ser vice was complet ed , he re turned home . 24 Af ter this his wife Eliz a beth be came preg nant and for five months re mained in se clu sion . 25 “ The Lord has done this for me ,” she said . “ In these days he has shown his favor and tak en away my dis grace among the peo ple .”
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Eliz a beth ’ s preg nan cy , God sent the an gel Ga bri el to Nazareth , a town in Galilee , 27 to a virgin pledged to be mar ried to a man named Joseph , a descendant of David . The virgin ’ s name was Mary . 28 The an gel went to her and said , “ Greet ings , you who are high ly fa vored ! The Lord is with you .”
29 Mary was great ly trou bled at his words and won dered what kind of greeting this might be . 30 But the an gel said to her , “ Do not be afraid , Mary ; you have found favor with God . 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son , and you are to call him Jesus . 32 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 , 33 and he will reign over Jacob ’ s de scen dants for ev er ; his king dom will nev er end .”
34 “ How will this be ,” Mary asked the an gel , “ since I am a vir gin ?”
35 The an gel an swered , “ The Holy Spir it will come on you , and the pow er of the Most High will over shad ow you . So the holy one to be born will be called b the Son
a 1 Or been surely believed b 35 Or So the child to be born will be called holy ,