Luke 1–2

Chapter 1

Introduction

¹Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things ^1aaccomplished among us,

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

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

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

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5aIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named ¹Zacharias, of the ^bdivision of ²Abijah; and he had a wife ³from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶They were both ^arighteous in the sight of God, walking ^bblamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

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 appointed order of his division,

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

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

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

¹²Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^afear ¹gripped him.

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

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

¹⁵“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will ^adrink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ¹while yet in his mother’s womb.

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

¹⁷“It is he who will ^ago as a forerunner 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, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

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

¹⁹The angel answered and said to him, “I am ^aGabriel, who ^1bstands in the presence of God, and I have been 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.”

²¹The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.

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

²³When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

²⁴After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, 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 with favor 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 ¹engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, ^bof the ²descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ³Mary.

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

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

³⁰The 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“He will be great and will be called the Son of ^athe Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^bthe throne of His father David;

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

³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How ¹can this be, since I ²am 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 ^cthe ¹holy Child shall be called ^dthe Son of God.

³⁶“And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and ¹she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

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

³⁸And ¹Mary said, “Behold, the ²bondslave of the Lord; 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 Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹When 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 ¹believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ²by the Lord.”

The Magnificat

⁴⁶And Mary said:

“^aMy soul ^1bexalts the Lord,

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

⁴⁸“For ^aHe has had regard for the humble state of His ¹bondslave;

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 ¹mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the ²thoughts 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 ¹descendants forever.”

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

John Is Born

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

⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^1adisplayed 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 Zacharias, ¹after his father.

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

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

⁶²And they ^amade 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 were all astonished.

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

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

⁶⁶All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For ^athe hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

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

⁶⁸“^aBlessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished ^bredemption for His people,

⁶⁹And has 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 Lord to ^dprepare 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 guide our feet into the ^bway of peace.”

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

Chapter 2

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

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

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

³And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

⁴Joseph 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 engaged to him, and was with child.

⁶While they were there, the days were completed 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 room for them in the inn.

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 Lord suddenly ^bstood before them, and the glory of the Lord 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“^aThis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ¹manger.”

¹³And suddenly there appeared with the angel a…