The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Luke 01
1 Since many have undertaken to set in
order a narrative concerning those
matters which have been fulfilled among us,
2 even as those who from the beginning were
eyewitnesses and servants of
the word delivered them to us,
3 it seemed good to me also, having
traced the course of all things accurately
from the first, to write to you in order, most
excellent Theophilus;
4 that you might know the certainty concerning
the things in which you were instructed.
5 There was inthedays ofHerod,the king
of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias,
of the priestly division of Abijah. He had
a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her
name was Elizabeth.
6 They were both righteous before God,
walking blamelessly in all the
commandments and ordinances
of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth
was barren, and they both were well
advanced in years.
8 Now while he executed the priest’s office
before God in the order of his division
9 according to the custom of the priest’s
office, his lot was to enter into the temple
of the Lord and burn incense.
10 The whole multitude of the people
were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing on the right side of the altar of
incense.
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw
him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be
afraid, Zacharias, because your request
has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will
bear you a son, and you shall call his 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 drink no wine nor strong
drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother’s womb.
16 He will turn many of the children of
Israel to the Lord their God.
17 He will go before him in the spirit
and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children,’* and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to
prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How can
I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and
my wife is well advanced in years.”
19 The angel answered him, “I am
Gabriel, who stands inthepresence of God.
I was sent to speak to you and to bring you
this good news.
20 Behold,† you will be silent and not able
to speak until the day that these things
will happen, because you didn’t believe
my words, which will be fulfilled in their
proper time.”
21 The people were waiting for
Zacharias, and they marveled that he
delayed in the temple.
22 When he came out, he could not speak
to them. They perceived that he had seen a
vision in the temple. He continued making
signs to them, and remained mute.
23 When the days of his service were
fulfilled, he departed to his house.
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife
conceived, and she hid herself five
months, saying,
25 “Thus has the Lord done to me in the
days in which he looked at me, to take
away my reproach among men.”
26 Now in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a city of
Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a
man whose name was Joseph, of David’s
house. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 Having come in, the angel said to her,
“Rejoice, you highly favored one! The
Lord is with you. Blessed are you among
women!”
29 But whenshe saw him, she was greatly
troubled at the saying, and considered
what kind of salutation this might be.
30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 Behold, you will conceive in your
womb and give birth to a son, and shall
name him ‘Jesus.’
32 He will be great and will be called the
Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever. There will be no end to his
Kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this
be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered her, “The Holy
Spirit will come on you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore also the holy one who is born
from you will be called the Son of God.
36 Behold, Elizabeth your relative also
has conceived a son in her old age; and this
is the sixth month with her who was called
barren.
37 For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”‡
38 Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the
Lord; let it be done to me according to your
word.” Then the angel departed from her.
39 Mary arose in those days and went
into the hill country with haste,
into a city of Judah,
40 and entered into the house of
Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the baby leaped in her womb; and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 She called out with a loud voice and
said, “Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 Why am I so favored, that the mother
of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the voice of your
greeting came into my ears, the baby
leaped in my womb for joy!
45 Blessed is she who believed, for there
will be a fulfillment of the things which
have been spoken to her from the Lord!”
46 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.
47 My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked atthe humble state
of his servant. For behold, from now on,
all generations will call me blessed.
49 For he who is mighty has done great
things for me. Holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for generations and
generations on those who fear him.
51 He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down princes from their
thrones, and has exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good
things. He has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has given help to Israel, his servant,
that he might remember mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring§ forever.”
56 Mary stayed with her about three
months, and then returned to her house.
57 Now the time that Elizabeth should
give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth
to a son.
58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard
that the Lord had magnified his mercy
toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise
the child; and they would have
called him Zacharias, after the
name of his father.
60 His mother answered, “Not so; but he
will be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one
among your relatives who is called by
this name.
62 They made signs to his father, what he
would have him called.
63 He asked for a writing tablet, and
wrote, “His name is John.”
They all marveled.
64 His mouth was opened immediately
and his tongue freed, and he spoke,
blessing God.
65 Fear came on all who lived around
them, and all these sayings were talked
about throughout all the hill country of
Judea.
66 All who heard them laid them up in
their heart, saying, “What then will this
child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.
67 His father Zacharias was filled with
the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people;
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for
us in the house of his servant David
70 (as he spoke by the mouth of his
holy prophets who have been from
of old),
71 salvation from our enemies and
from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath which he swore to
Abraham our father,
74 to grant to us that we, being delivered
out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before
him all the days of our life.
76 And you, child, will be
called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the
Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his
peopleby the remissionoftheir sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will
visit us,
79 to shine on those who sitin darkness
and the shadow of death; to guide our
feet into the way of peace.”
80 The child was growing and becoming
strong in spirit, and was in the desert until
the day of his public appearance to Israel.