Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order aa declaration of those things which are bmost surely believed among us, 2 Even as cthey delivered them unto us, which dfrom the beginning were eeyewitnesses, and fministers of gthe word; 3 hIt seemed good to me also, ihaving had perfect understanding of all things kfrom the very first, to write unto thee lin order, mmost excellent nTheophilus, 4 oThat thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast pbeen instructed.

5 *There was qin the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, rof the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both srighteous before God, twalking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord ublameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was xbarren, and ythey both were now zwell stricken in years. 8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God ain the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was bto burn incense when he went into cthe temple of the Lord.