1:1Since indeed many have tried to set in order an account of the things which have been fulfilled among us: just as those who from the beginning saw for themselves, and were servants of the word, handed them down to us: it seemed good to me too, having followed all things carefully from the beginning, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth of those words about which you have been instructed. 1:5There was in the days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest, Zechariah by name, from the turn of Abijah, and his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
1:6And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without complaint. 1:7And there was no son for them, because Elizabeth was barren, and both had gone forward in their days. 1:8And it was done: when he was performing the priesthood in the order of his turn before God, according to the custom of the priesthood, it went out by lot that he should place the incense, having gone into the temple of the Lord: and all the multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense. 1:11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right of the altar of incense.
1:12And Zechariah was troubled, seeing him, and fear rushed upon him. 1:13But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, since your prayer has been heard: and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John: and he will be joy to you, and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth: for he will be great before the Lord: and wine and strong drink he will not drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb of his mother: and many of the sons of Israel he will turn to the Lord their God: and he himself will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah: so that he may turn the hearts of the fathers towards the sons, and the unbelieving to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people made complete."
1:18And Zechariah said to the angel: "From where shall I know this? 1:18For I am an old man, and my wife has gone forward in her days." 1:19And answering, the angel said to him: "I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and I have been sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. 1:20And look, you will be silent, and you will not be able to speak until the day on which these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." 1:21And the people were waiting for Zechariah: and they were wondering that he himself was delaying in the temple.
1:22But having come out he was not able to speak to them, and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the temple. 1:22And he himself was making signs to them, and he remained mute. 1:23And it was done: when the days of his service had been fulfilled, he went away into his house: and after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she was hiding herself for five months, saying: "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days in which he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among people." 1:26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God into a city of Galilee, to which the name was Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man to whom the name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the name of the virgin was Mary.
1:28And the angel, having gone in to her, said: "Hail, full of grace: the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women." 1:29And she, when she had heard, was troubled at his word, and was thinking what kind of greeting this was. 1:30And the angel said to her: "Do not be afraid, Mary: for you have found grace with God. 1:31Look, you will conceive in the womb, and you will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus: this one will be great, and he will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the seat of David his father: and he will reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
1:34But Mary said to the angel: "How will that be done, since I do not know a man?" 1:35And answering, the angel said to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 1:35And therefore also the holy thing which will be born from you will be called Son of God. 1:36And look, Elizabeth your kinswoman, she too has conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month for her who is called barren: because no word will be impossible with God." 1:38And Mary said: "Look, the handmaid of the Lord: let it be done to me according to your word."
1:38And the angel departed from her. 1:39And Mary, rising up in those days, went away into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah: and she went into the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. 1:41And it was done: when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leapt in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit: and she cried out with a great voice, and said: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your belly. 1:43And from where is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 1:44For look, as the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the infant leapt with joy in my womb.
1:45And blessed are you who believed, since those things will be accomplished which have been said to you by the Lord." 1:46And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord: and my spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour. 1:48Because he has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid: for look, from this time all generations will call me blessed, because he who is mighty has done great things for me: and holy is his name, and his mercy is from generation to generations for those who fear him. 1:51He has shown might with his arm: he has scattered the proud in the thought of their heart. 1:52He has put down the mighty from their seat, and has lifted up the lowly.
1:53The hungry he has filled with good things: and the rich he has sent away empty. 1:54He has taken up Israel his servant, having remembered his mercy: just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever." And Mary stayed with her about three months: and she returned into her house. 1:57And for Elizabeth the time of giving birth was fulfilled, and she bore a son. 1:58And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they were rejoicing with her. 1:59And it was done: on the eighth day they came to circumcise the boy, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zechariah.
1:60And answering, his mother said: "By no means, but he will be called John." 1:61And they said to her: "There is no one in your kindred who is called by this name." 1:62And they were making signs to his father, what he wanted him to be called. 1:63And asking for a writing tablet he wrote, saying: "John is his name." 1:63And they all wondered. 1:64And his mouth was opened on the spot, and his tongue, and he was speaking, blessing God. 1:65And fear came upon all their neighbours: and over all the hill country of Judea all these words were being spread abroad: and all who had heard laid them up in their heart, saying: "What, do you think, will this boy be?"
1:66For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. 1:67And Zechariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit: and he prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited, and has made redemption for his people: and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant, just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from of old: salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us: to do mercy with our fathers: and to remember his holy covenant: the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant us that without fear, freed from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him in holiness and justice before him, all our days.
1:76And you, boy, will be called prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people for the remission of their sins, through the heart of the mercy of our God, in which the one rising from on high has visited us: to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace." And the boy was growing, and was being strengthened in spirit: and he was in the deserts until the day of his showing to Israel.