Luke 1
1 Forasmuch as
many have taken in
hand to set forth in
order a
declaration of those
things which are most surely
believed among us, 2 Even as they
delivered them unto
us, which from the
beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the
word; 3 It
seemed good to me
also, having had
perfect understanding of all
things from the very
first, to
write unto
thee in
order, most
excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest
know the
certainty of those
things, wherein thou hast been
instructed.
5 There
was in the
days of
Herod, the
king of
Judaea, a
certain priest named Zacharias, of the
course of
Abia: and his wife was
of the
daughters of
Aaron, and her name was
Elisabeth. 6 And they
were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the
Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that
Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well
stricken in years. 8 And it came to
pass, that
while he executed the priest's
office before God in the
order of
his course, 9 According to the
custom of the priest's
office, his
lot was to burn
incense when he
went into the
temple of the
Lord. 10 And the
whole multitude of the
people were praying without at the
time of
incense. 11 And there
appeared unto
him an
angel of the
Lord standing on the right
side of the
altar of
incense. 12 And when
Zacharias saw him, he was
troubled,
and fear fell upon him. 13 But the
angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is
heard;
and thy wife Elisabeth shall
bear thee a
son, and thou shalt
call his name John. 14 And thou shalt
have joy and gladness; and many shall
rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall
be great in the
sight of the
Lord, and shall
drink neither wine nor strong
drink; and he shall be
filled with the
Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the
children of
Israel shall he
turn to the
Lord their God. 17 And he shall
go before him in the
spirit and power of
Elias, to
turn the
hearts of the
fathers to the
children, and the
disobedient to the
wisdom of the
just; to make
ready a
people prepared for the
Lord. 18 And Zacharias said unto the
angel, Whereby shall I
know this? for I am an old
man, and my wife well
stricken in years.
19 And the
angel answering said unto
him, I am Gabriel, that
stand in the
presence of
God; and am
sent to
speak unto thee, and to
shew thee these glad
tidings.
20 And, behold,
thou shalt be
dumb,
and not able to
speak,
until the
day that these
things shall be
performed,
because thou believest not my words, which shall be
fulfilled in their season. 21 And the
people waited for
Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so
long in the
temple. 22 And when he came
out, he
could not speak unto
them: and they
perceived that he had
seen a
vision in the
temple: for he beckoned unto
them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to
pass, that, as soon
as the
days of
his ministration were
accomplished, he
departed to his
own house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived,
and hid herself five months, saying,
25 Thus hath the
Lord dealt with
me in the
days wherein he looked
on me, to take
away my reproach among men. 26 And in the
sixth month the
angel Gabriel was
sent from God unto a
city of
Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a
virgin espoused to a
man whose name was
Joseph, of the
house of
David; and the
virgin's name was
Mary. 28 And the
angel came
in unto her, and
said,
Hail, thou that art highly
favoured, the
Lord is
with thee: blessed art
thou among women. 29 And when she
saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her
mind what
manner of
salutation this should
be.
30 And the
angel said unto
her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy
womb, and bring
forth a
son, and shalt
call his name JESUS. 32 He shall
be great, and shall be
called the
Son of the
Highest: and the
Lord God shall
give unto
him the
throne of
his father David: 33 And he shall
reign over the
house of
Jacob for ever; and of
his kingdom there shall
be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the
angel, How shall this be,
seeing I
know not a
man? 35 And the
angel answered and
said unto
her, The
Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the
power of the
Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be
born of thee shall be
called the
Son of
God. 36 And, behold,
thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a
son in her old
age: and this is the
sixth month with
her, who was
called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be
impossible.
38 And Mary said,
Behold the
handmaid of the
Lord; be
it unto
me according to
thy word. And the
angel departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in those days, and
went into the hill
country with haste, into a
city of
Juda; 40 And entered into the
house of
Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to
pass, that,
when Elisabeth heard the
salutation of
Mary, the
babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was
filled with the
Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake
out with a
loud voice, and said,
Blessed art
thou among women, and blessed is the
fruit of
thy womb. 43 And whence is
this to
me, that the
mother of
my Lord should
come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon
as the
voice of
thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the
babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that
believed:
for there shall
be a
performance of those things which were
told her from the
Lord. 46 And Mary said,
My soul doth
magnify the
Lord, 47 And my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath
regarded the low
estate of
his handmaiden: for, behold,
from henceforth all generations shall
call me blessed.
49 For he that is
mighty hath
done to
me great
things; and holy is
his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that
fear him from generation to
generation. 51 He hath
shewed strength with his arm; he hath
scattered the
proud in the
imagination of
their hearts. 52 He hath put
down the
mighty from their
seats, and exalted them of low
degree. 53 He hath
filled the
hungry with good
things; and the
rich he hath
sent empty away.
54 He hath
holpen his servant Israel, in
remembrance of his
mercy; 55 As he
spake to our fathers, to
Abraham, and to
his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her
own house. 57 Now Elisabeth's full time came that
she should be
delivered;
and she brought
forth a
son. 58 And her
neighbours and her cousins heard how the
Lord had shewed
great mercy upon her; and they
rejoiced with
her. 59 And it came to
pass, that
on the
eighth day they
came to
circumcise the
child; and they
called him Zacharias, after the
name of
his father. 60 And his mother answered and
said,
Not so;
but he shall be
called John. 61 And they
said unto her, There
is none of thy kindred that is
called by
this name. 62 And they made
signs to
his father, how he would
have him called.
63 And he asked
for a writing
table, and
wrote,
saying,
His name is John. And they
marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was
opened immediately, and his tongue loosed,
and he
spake, and
praised God. 65 And fear came on all that dwelt round
about them: and all these sayings were noised
abroad throughout all the hill
country of
Judaea. 66 And all they that
heard them laid them
up in their hearts, saying,
What manner of
child shall this be!
And the
hand of the
Lord was with him. 67 And his father Zacharias was
filled with the
Holy Ghost, and prophesied,
saying,
68 Blessed be the
Lord God of
Israel; for he hath
visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised
up an
horn of
salvation for
us in the
house of
his servant David; 70 As he
spake by the
mouth of
his holy prophets, which have been
since the world
began: 71 That we should be
saved from our enemies, and from the
hand of
all that
hate us; 72 To
perform the
mercy promised
to our fathers, and to
remember his holy covenant; 73 The
oath which he
sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would
grant unto
us, that we being
delivered out
of the
hand of
our enemies might
serve him without
fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the
days of
our life. 76 And thou, child, shalt be
called the
prophet of the
Highest: for thou shalt
go before the
face of the
Lord to
prepare his ways; 77 To
give knowledge of
salvation unto
his people by the
remission of
their sins, 78 Through the
tender mercy of
our God; whereby the dayspring from on
high hath
visited us, 79 To give
light to them that
sit in darkness and in the
shadow of
death, to
guide our feet into the
way of
peace. 80 And the
child grew,
and waxed
strong in
spirit, and was in the
deserts till the
day of
his shewing unto Israel.