Luke 1-5

New International Reader's Version

Luke Writes an Orderly Report

1 Many people have attempted to write about the things that have taken place among us. ² Reports of these things were handed down to us. There were people who saw these things for themselves from the beginning. They saw them and then passed the word on. ³ With this in mind, I myself have carefully looked into everything from the beginning. So I also decided to write down an orderly report of exactly what happened. I am doing this for you, most excellent Theophilus. ⁴ I want you to know that the things you have been taught are true.

The Coming Birth of John the Baptist

⁵ Herod was king of Judea. During the time he was ruling, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to a group of priests named after Abijah. His wife Elizabeth also came from the family line of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them did what was right in the sight of God. They obeyed all the Lord’s commands and rules faithfully. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was not able to have any. And they were both very old.

⁸ One day Zechariah’s group was on duty. He was serving as a priest in God’s temple. ⁹ He happened to be chosen, in the usual way, to go into the temple of the Lord. There he was supposed to burn incense. ¹⁰ The time came for this to be done. All who had gathered to worship were praying outside.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was amazed and terrified. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will have a child. It will be a boy, and you must call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you. His birth will make many people very glad. ¹⁵ He will be important in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or other such drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will prepare the way for the Lord. He will have the same spirit and power that Elijah had. He will bring peace between parents and their children. He will teach people who don’t obey to be wise and do what is right. In this way, he will prepare a people who are ready for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is old too.”

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I serve God. I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will have to be silent. You will not be able to speak until after John is born. That’s because you did not believe my words. They will come true at the time God has chosen.”

²¹ During that time, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the temple. They wondered why he stayed there so long. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple. They knew this because he kept gesturing to them. He still could not speak.

²³ When his time of service was over, he returned home. ²⁴ After that, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. She stayed at home for five months. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days, he has been kind to me. He has taken away my shame among the people.”

The Coming Birth of Jesus

²⁶ In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. ²⁷ He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph. He came from the family line of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has blessed you in a special way. He is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. ³¹ You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago. ³³ The Son of the Most High God will rule forever over his people. They are from the family line of Jacob. That kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How can this happen?” Mary asked the angel. “I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Your relative Elizabeth will have a child even though she is old. People thought she could not have children. But she has been pregnant for six months now. ³⁷ That’s because what God says will always come true.”

³⁸ “I serve the Lord,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me just as you said it would.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in Judea’s hill country. ⁴⁰ There she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby inside her jumped. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she called out, “God has blessed you more than other women. And blessed is the child you will have! ⁴³ But why is God so kind to me? Why has the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as I heard the sound of your voice, the baby inside me jumped for joy. ⁴⁵ You are a woman God has blessed. You have believed that the Lord would keep his promises to you!”

Mary’s Song

⁴⁶ Mary said,

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she returned home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby. She gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her. They shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, they came to have the child circumcised. They were going to name him Zechariah, like his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother spoke up. “No!” she said. “He must be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “No one among your relatives has that name.”

⁶² Then they motioned to his father. They wanted to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. ⁶⁴ Right away Zechariah could speak again. Right away he praised God. ⁶⁵ All his neighbors were filled with fear and wonder. Throughout Judea’s hill country, people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it. And because the Lord was with John, they asked, “What is this child going to be?”

Zechariah’s Song

⁶⁷ John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit. He prophesied,

⁸⁰ The child grew up, and his spirit became strong. He lived in the desert until he appeared openly to Israel.

Jesus Is Born

2 In those days, Caesar Augustus made a law. It required that a list be made of everyone in the whole Roman world. ² It was the first time a list was made of the people while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ Everyone went to their own town to be listed.

⁴ So Joseph went also. He went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. That is where Bethlehem, the town of David, was. Joseph went there because he belonged to the family line of David. ⁵ He went there with Mary to be listed. Mary was engaged to him. She was expecting a baby. ⁶ While Joseph and Mary were there, the time came for the child to be born. ⁷ She gave birth to her first baby. It was a boy. She wrapped him in large strips of cloth. Then she placed him in a manger. That’s because there was no guest room where they could stay.

⁸ There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were taking care of their sheep. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It will bring great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising God. They said,

¹⁵ The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. ¹⁸ All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over. ²⁰ The shepherds returned. They gave glory and praise to God. Everything they had seen and heard was just as they had been told.

²¹ When the child was eight days old, he was circumcised. At the same time he was named Jesus. This was the name the angel had given him before his mother became pregnant.

Joseph and Mary Take Jesus to the Temple

²² The time came for making Mary “clean” as required by the Law of Moses. So Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem. There they presented him to the Lord. ²³ In the Law of the Lord it says, “The first boy born in every family must be set apart for the Lord.” (Exodus 13:2,12) ²⁴ They also offered a sacrifice. They did it in keeping with the Law, which says, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (Leviticus 12:8)

²⁵ In Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was a good and godly man. He was waiting for God’s promise to Israel to come true. The Holy Spirit was with him. ²⁶ The Spirit had told Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ The Spirit led him into the temple courtyard. Then Jesus’ parents brought the child in. They came to do for him what the Law required. ²⁸ Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God. He said,

³³ The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them. He said to Mary, Jesus’ mother, “This child is going to cause many people in Israel to fall and to rise. God has sent him. But many will speak against him. ³⁵ The thoughts of many hearts will be known. A sword will wound your own soul too.”

³⁶ There was also a prophet named Anna. She was the daughter of Penuel from the tribe of Asher. Anna was very old. After getting married, she lived with her husband seven years. ³⁷ Then she was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple. She worshiped night and day, praying and going without food. ³⁸ Anna came up to Jesus’ family at that moment. She gave thanks to God. And she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the time when Jerusalem would be set free.

³⁹ Joseph and Mary did everything the Law of the Lord required. Then they returned to Galilee. They went to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong. He was very wise. He was blessed by God’s grace.

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. ⁴² When Jesus was 12 years old, they went up to the feast as usual. ⁴³ After the feast was over, his parents left to go back home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But they were not aware of it. ⁴⁴ They thought he was somewhere in their group. So they traveled on for a day. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ They did not find him. So they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courtyard. He was sitting with the teachers. He was listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at how much he understood. They also were amazed at his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were amazed. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried about you. We have been looking for you everywhere.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you looking for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he meant by that.

⁵¹ Then he went back to Nazareth with them, and he obeyed them. But his mother kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. ⁵² Jesus became wiser and stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to God and to people.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 Tiberius Caesar had been ruling for 15 years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod was the ruler of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruler of Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert. ³ He went into all the countryside around the Jordan River. There he preached that people should be baptized and turn away from their sins. Then God would forgive them. ⁴ Here is what is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet. It says,

⁷ John spoke to the crowds coming to be baptized by him. He said, “You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger? ⁸ Live in a way that shows you have turned away from your sins. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. ⁹ The ax is already lying at the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ “Then what should we do?” the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has extra clothes should share with the one who has none. And anyone who has extra food should do the same.”

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” John told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

John replied, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t bring false charges against people. Be happy with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were waiting. They were expecting something. They were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I am will come. I’m not good enough to untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His pitchfork is in his hand to toss the straw away from his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn. But he will burn up the husks with fire that can’t be put out.” ¹⁸ John said many other things to warn the people. He also announced the good news to them.

¹⁹ But John found fault with Herod, the ruler of Galilee, because of his marriage to Herodias. She was the wife of Herod’s brother. John also spoke strongly to Herod about all the other evil things he had done. ²⁰ So Herod locked John up in prison. Herod added this sin to all his others.

The Baptism and Family Line of Jesus

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened. ²² The Holy Spirit came to rest on him in the form of a dove. A voice came from heaven. It said, “You are my Son, and I love you. I am very pleased with you.”

²³ Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his special work for God and others. It was thought that he was the son of Joseph.

Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the desert. ² There the devil tempted him for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time. At the end of the 40 days, he was hungry.

³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man must not live only on bread.’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

⁵ Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In an instant, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ He said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and glory. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:13)

⁹ Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He had Jesus stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ It is written,

¹² Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:16)

¹³ When the devil finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until a better time.

Jesus Is Not Accepted in Nazareth

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as he usually did. He stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. Jesus unrolled it and found the right place. There it is written,

²⁰ Then Jesus rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this passage of Scripture is coming true as you listen.”

²² Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

²³ Jesus said, “Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me this. ‘Do the things here in your hometown that we heard you did in Capernaum.’ ”

²⁴ “What I’m about to tell you is true,” he continued. “A prophet is not accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I tell you for sure that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. And there had been no rain for three and a half years. There wasn’t enough food to eat anywhere in the land. ²⁶ But Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. Instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases in the days of Elisha the prophet. But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were very angry when they heard that. ²⁹ They got up and ran Jesus out of town. They took him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They planned to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

³¹ Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man controlled by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice. ³⁴ “Go away!” he said. “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said firmly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody. And it came out without hurting him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed. They said to each other, “What he says is amazing! With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits. And they come out!” ³⁷ The news about Jesus spread throughout the whole area.

Jesus Heals Many People

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. At that time, Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ He bent over her and commanded the fever to leave, and it left her. She got up right away and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick. He placed his hands on each one and healed them. ⁴¹ Also, demons came out of many people. The demons shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he commanded them to be quiet. He would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

⁴² At dawn, Jesus went out to a place where he could be by himself. The people went to look for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said, “I must announce the good news of God’s kingdom to the other towns also. That is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus Chooses His First Disciples

5 One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him and listened to the word of God. ² Jesus saw two boats at the edge of the water. They had been left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³ He got into the boat that belonged to Simon. Jesus asked him to go out a little way from shore. Then he sat down in the boat and taught the people.

⁴ When he finished speaking, he turned to Simon. Jesus said, “Go out into deep water. Let down the nets so you can catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶ When they had done so, they caught a large number of fish. There were so many that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord!” he said. “I am a sinful man!” ⁹ He and everyone with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught. ¹⁰ So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who worked with Simon.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore. Then they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Had a Skin Disease

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along. He had a skin disease all over his body. When he saw Jesus, the man fell with his face to the ground. He begged him, “Lord, if you are willing to make me ‘clean,’ you can do it.”

¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing to do it,” he said. “Be ‘clean’!” Right away the disease left him.

¹⁴ Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone. Go and show yourself to the priest. Offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded. It will be a witness to the priest and the people that you are ‘clean.’ ”

¹⁵ But the news about Jesus spread even more. So crowds of people came to hear him. They also came to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often went away to be by himself and pray.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching. Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. They heard that the Lord had given Jesus the power to heal the sick. ¹⁸ So some men came carrying a man who could not walk. He was lying on a mat. They tried to take him into the house to place him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹ They could not find a way to do this because of the crowd. So they went up on the roof. Then they lowered the man on his mat through the opening in the roof tiles. They lowered him into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw that they had faith, he spoke to the man. He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to think, “Who is this fellow who says such an evil thing? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³ Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he spoke to the man who could not walk. “I tell you,” he said, “get up. Take your mat and go home.” ²⁵ Right away, the man stood up in front of them. He took his mat and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with wonder. They said, “We have seen unusual things today.”

Jesus Chooses Levi and Eats With Sinners

²⁷ After this, Jesus left the house. He saw a tax collector sitting at the tax booth. The man’s name was Levi. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him. ²⁸ Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

²⁹ Then Levi gave a huge banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and their teachers of the law complained to Jesus’ disciples. They said, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. ³² I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to turn away from their sins.”

Jesus Is Asked About Fasting

³³ Some of the people who were there said to Jesus, “John’s disciples often pray and go without eating. So do the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours go on eating and drinking.”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the groom fast while he is with them? ³⁵ But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. In those days they will go without eating.”

³⁶ Then Jesus gave them an example. He said, “No one tears a piece out of new clothes to patch old clothes. Otherwise, they will tear the new clothes. Also, the patch from the new clothes will not match the old clothes.