1:1 Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us.
1:2 They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message.
1:3 And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you.
1:4 I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.
1:5 During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family.
1:6 They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands.
1:7 They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.
1:8 One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service.
1:9 According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord,
1:10 while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned.
1:11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned.
1:12 When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid.
1:13 But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John.
1:14 How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born!
1:15 John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
1:16 and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
1:17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.”
1:18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”
1:19 “I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news.
1:20 But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”
1:21 In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple.
1:22 When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.
1:23 When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home.
1:24 Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months.
1:25 “Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”
1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth.
1:27 He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary.
1:28 The angel came to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!”
1:29 Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant.
1:30 The angel said to her, “Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.
1:31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was,
1:33 and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!”
1:34 Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?”
1:35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.
1:36 Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old.
1:48 for he has remembered me, his lowly servant! From now on all people will call me happy,
1:49 because of the great things the Mighty God has done for me. His name is holy;
1:50 from one generation to another he shows mercy to those who honor him.
1:51 He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans.
1:52 He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.
1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands.
1:54 He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors, and has come to the help of his servant Israel.
1:55 He has remembered to show mercy to Abraham and to all his descendants forever!”
1:56 Mary stayed about three months with Elizabeth and then went back home.
1:57 The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.
1:58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her.
1:59 When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.
1:60 But his mother said, “No! His name is to be John.”
1:61 They said to her, “But you don't have any relative with that name!”
1:62 Then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.
1:63 Zechariah asked for a writing pad and wrote, “His name is John.” How surprised they all were!
1:64 At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again, and he started praising God.
1:65 The neighbors were all filled with fear, and the news about these things spread through all the hill country of Judea.
1:66 Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, “What is this child going to be?” For it was plain that the Lord's power was upon him.
1:67 John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God's message:
1:68 “Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to the help of his people and has set them free.
1:69 He has provided for us a mighty Savior, a descendant of his servant David.
1:70 He promised through his holy prophets long ago
1:71 that he would save us from our enemies, from the power of all those who hate us.
1:72 He said he would show mercy to our ancestors and remember his sacred covenant.
1:73 With a solemn oath to our ancestor Abraham he promised to rescue us from our enemies and allow us to serve him without fear,
1:74 With a solemn oath to our ancestor Abraham he promised to rescue us from our enemies and allow us to serve him without fear,
1:75 so that we might be holy and righteous before him all the days of our life.
1:76 “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him,
1:77 to tell his people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven.
1:78 Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us
1:79 and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace.”
1:80 The child grew and developed in body and spirit. He lived in the desert until the day when he appeared publicly to the people of Israel.
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