Luke 1–2

CHAPTER 1

Luke’s Account of Things Fulfilled

¹Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that ^1ahave been fulfilled among us,

²just as those, who ^afrom the beginning ¹were ^beyewitnesses and ^2cservants of ^dthe ³word, handed them down to us,

³it seemed fitting for me as well, ^ahaving ¹investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you ^bin orderly sequence, ^cmost excellent ^dTheophilus,

⁴so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been ^1ataught.

John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold

^5aIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the ^bdivision of ¹Abijah, and he had a wife ²from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶And they were both ^arighteous in the sight of God, walking ^bblamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the ¹Lord.

⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in ¹years.

⁸Now it happened that while ^ahe was performing his priestly service before God in the order of his division,

⁹according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot ^ato enter the ¹sanctuary of the ²Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying ^aoutside at the hour of the incense offering.

¹¹And ^aan angel of the ¹Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^afear fell upon him.

¹³But the angel said to him, “^aDo not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will ¹bear you a son, and ^byou will call his name ²John.

¹⁴“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

¹⁵“^aFor he will be great in the sight of the ¹Lord; and ^ahe will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ²while yet in his mother’s womb.

¹⁶“And he will ^aturn many of the sons of Israel back to the ¹Lord their God.

¹⁷“And he will ^ago before Him in the spirit and power of ^bElijah, ^cto turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^dmake ready a people prepared for the ¹Lord.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^aI am an old man and my wife is advanced in ¹years.”

¹⁹And the angel answered and said to him, “I am ^aGabriel, who ^bstands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰“And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary.

²²But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he ^akept ¹making signs to them, and remained mute.

²³And it happened that when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went back home.

²⁴After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she ¹kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

²⁵“This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked upon me to ^atake away my disgrace among men.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶Now in the sixth month the angel ^aGabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called ^bNazareth,

²⁷to ^aa virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^bof the ¹house of David, and the virgin’s name was ²Mary.

²⁸And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, ¹favored one! The Lord ²is with you.”

²⁹But she ^awas very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was.

³⁰And the angel said to her, “^aDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you ^ashall name Him Jesus.

³²“^aHe will be great and will be called the Son of ^athe Most High, and the ¹Lord God will give Him ^bthe throne of His father David,

^33aand He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^band there will be no end of His kingdom.”

³⁴But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ¹am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered and said to her, “^aThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^bthe Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason ^1cthe holy Child shall be called ^dthe Son of God.

³⁶“And behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.

³⁷“For ^1anothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, the slave of the ¹Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹Now ¹at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to ^athe hill country, to a city of Judah,

⁴⁰and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^afilled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³“And ¹how has it happened to me, that the mother of ^amy Lord would come to me?

⁴⁴“For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

⁴⁵“And ^ablessed is she who believed ¹that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ²by the ³Lord.”

Mary Magnifies the Lord

⁴⁶And Mary said:

“^aMy soul ^bmagnifies the ¹Lord,

⁴⁷And ^amy spirit has rejoiced in ^bGod my Savior.

⁴⁸“For ^aHe has looked upon the humble state of His slave,

For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me ^bblessed.

⁴⁹“For the Mighty One has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

⁵⁰“^aAnd His mercy is ¹upon generation after generation

Toward those who fear Him.

⁵¹“^aHe has done a mighty deed with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the ¹thoughts of their heart.

⁵²“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has ^aexalted those who were humble.

⁵³“^aHe has filled the hungry with good things,

And sent away the rich empty-handed.

⁵⁴“He has given help to Israel His servant,

¹In remembrance of His mercy,

^55aAs He spoke to our fathers,

^bTo Abraham and his seed forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to ¹give birth, and she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^amagnified His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹And it happened that on ^athe eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after the name of his father.

⁶⁰But his mother answered and said, “No, but ^ahe shall be called John.”

⁶¹And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”

⁶²And they ^awere making signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.

⁶³And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “^aHis name is John.” And they all marveled.

^64aAnd at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came on all those living around them, and all these matters were being talked about in all ^athe hill country of Judea.

⁶⁶And all who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^athe hand of the ¹Lord was indeed with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah ^awas filled with the Holy Spirit, and ^bprophesied, saying:

⁶⁸“^aBlessed be the ¹Lord God of Israel,

For He visited and accomplished ^bredemption for His people,

⁶⁹And raised up a ^ahorn of salvation for us

In the house of David ^bHis servant—

^70aAs He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets ^bfrom of old—

^711aSalvation ^bfrom our enemies,

And from the hand of all who hate us,

^72aTo show mercy toward our fathers,

^bAnd to remember His holy covenant,

^73aThe oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

⁷⁴To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

^75aIn holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

⁷⁶“And you, child, will be called the ^aprophet of ^bthe Most High,

For you will go on ^cbefore the ¹Lord to ^dmake ready His ways,

⁷⁷To give to His people the knowledge of salvation

¹By ^athe forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which ^athe Sunrise from on high will visit us,

^79aTo shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To direct our feet into the ^bway of peace.”

^80aAnd the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

CHAPTER 2

Jesus Is Born in Bethlehem

¹Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from ^aCaesar Augustus for a census to be taken of ^ball ¹the inhabited earth.

²¹This was the first census taken while ²Quirinius was governor of ^aSyria.

³And everyone was going to be registered for the census, each to his own city.

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because ^ahe was of the house and family of David,

⁵in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child.

⁶Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth.

⁷And she ^agave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ¹manger, because there was no place for them in the ²guest room.

⁸In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹And ^aan angel of the ¹Lord ^bstood before them, and the glory of the ²Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “^aDo not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

¹¹For today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^aSavior, who is ^1bChrist ^cthe Lord.

¹²“^aAnd this will be the sign for…