Luke 1

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order ^aa declaration of those things which are ^bmost surely believed among us, ²even as ^cthey delivered them unto us, which ^dfrom the beginning were ^eeyewitnesses, and ^fministers of ^gthe word; ^3hit 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, ^4othat thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast ^pbeen instructed.

⁵There was ^qin the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, ^rof the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ⁶And they were both ^srighteous before God, ^twalking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord ^ublameless. ⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was ^xbarren, and ^ythey both were now ^zwell stricken in years. ⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God ^ain the order of his course, ⁹according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was ^bto burn incense when he went into ^cthe temple of the Lord. ¹⁰And ^dthe whole multitude of the people were ^epraying ^dwithout at the time of incense. ¹¹And there appeared unto him ^eean angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^fthe altar of incense. ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, ^ghe was troubled, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and ^hthou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall ⁱrejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and ^jshall drink ^kneither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled ^kwith the Holy Ghost, even ^lfrom his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. ^17mAnd he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to ⁿturn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; ^oto make ready a people ^pprepared for the Lord. ¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, ^qWhereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife ^rwell stricken in years. ¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am ^sGabriel, ^tthat stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. ²⁰And behold, ^uthou 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. ²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in ^cthe temple. ²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in ^cthe temple: for ^xhe beckoned unto them, and remained ^xspeechless. ²³And it came to pass that, as soon as ^ythe days of his ^zministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. ²⁴And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and ^ahid herself five months, saying, ²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he ^blooked on me, to ^ctake away my reproach among men.

²⁶And in ^dthe sixth month the angel ^eGabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named ^fNazareth, ²⁷to a virgin ^gespoused to a man whose name was Joseph, ^hof the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, ⁱthou that art highly favoured, ^lthe Lord is with thee: ^mblessed art thou among women. ²⁹And when she saw him, ⁿshe was troubled at his saying, and ⁿⁿcast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast ^ofound favour with God. ³¹And behold, ^pthou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and ^qshalt call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of ^rthe Highest: and the Lord God shall ^sgive unto him ^tthe throne of his father David: ³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob ^ufor ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, ^xThe Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of ^rthe Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also ^ythat holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called ^zthe Son of God. ³⁶And behold, thy ^acousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called ^bbarren. ³⁷For ^cwith God nothing shall be unpossible. ³⁸And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; ^dbe it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹And Mary arose in those days, and went into ^ethe hill country ^fwith haste, into ^ea city of Juda; ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth ^gwas filled with the Holy Ghost: ⁴²and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, ^hBlessed art thou ⁱamong women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³And ^jwhence is this to me, that the mother of ^jjmy Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And ^kblessed is she that believed: ^kkfor there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said,

^lMy soul doth ^mmagnify the Lord,

⁴⁷And ⁿmy spirit hath rejoiced in ^oGod my Saviour.

⁴⁸For ^phe hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

For behold, from henceforth ^qall generations shall ^rcall me blessed.

⁴⁹For he that is mighty ^shath done to me ^tgreat things;

And ^uholy is his name.

⁵⁰And ^xhis mercy is on them that fear him

From generation to generation.

^51yHe hath shewed strength with his arm;

^zHe hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

^52aHe hath put down ^bthe mighty from their seats,

And exalted them of low degree.

^53cHe hath filled the hungry with good things;

And the rich he hath ^dsent empty away.

⁵⁴He hath ^eholpen his servant Israel,

^fIn remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵(^gAs he spake to our fathers),

To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

⁵⁷Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. ⁵⁸And ^hher neighbours and her ⁱcousins heard how the Lord had ^kshewed great mercy upon her; and ^lthey rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And it came to pass, that ^mon the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and ⁿthey called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰And his mother answered and said, Not so; but ^ohe shall be called John. ⁶¹And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. ⁶²And they ^pmade signs to his father, how he would have him called. ⁶³And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, ^qHis name is John. And they marvelled all. ^64rAnd his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue ^sloosed, and he spake, and ^tpraised God. ⁶⁵And ^ufear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all ^vthe hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶And all they that heard them ^wlaid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And ^xthe hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷And his father Zacharias ^ywas filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

^68zBlessed be the Lord ^aGod of Israel;

For he hath ^bvisited and ^credeemed his people,

⁶⁹And hath raised up ^da horn of salvation for us

In the house of his servant David;

⁷⁰(^eAs he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,

Which have been ^fsince the world began:)

⁷¹That we should be saved from our enemies,

And from the hand of all that hate us;

^72gTo perform the mercy promised to our fathers,

And ^hto remember his holy covenant;

⁷³ⁱThe oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

⁷⁴That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies

Might ^kserve him without fear,

^75lIn holiness and righteousness before him,

^mAll the days of our life.

⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called ⁿthe prophet of ^othe Highest:

For ^pthou shalt go before the face of the Lord

^pTo prepare his ways;

⁷⁷To give ^ppknowledge of salvation unto his people

By the remission of their sins,

⁷⁸Through the tender mercy of our God;

Whereby the dayspring from on high hath ^bvisited us,

^79qTo give light to them ^rthat sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of ^speace.

⁸⁰And ^tthe child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was ^uin the deserts till the day of his ^xshewing unto Israel.

II.