Luke 1

New American Standard Bible

Introduction

1 Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things ^[a]^(A)accomplished among us, ²just as they were handed down to us by those who ^(B)from the beginning ^[b]were ^(C)eyewitnesses and ^[c]^(D)servants of ^(E)the ^[d]word, ³it seemed fitting to me as well, ^(F)having ^[e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you ^(G)in an orderly sequence, ^(H)most excellent ^(I)Theophilus; ⁴so that you may know the exact truth about the ^[f]things you have been ^[g]^(J)taught.

John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold

⁵^(K)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the ^(L)division of ^[h]Abijah; and he had a wife ^[i]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶They were both ^(M)righteous in the sight of God, walking ^(N)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in ^[j]years.

⁸Now it happened that while ^(O)he 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 ^(P)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer ^(Q)outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹Now ^(R)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹²Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^(S)fear ^[k]gripped him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “^(T)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(U)you shall ^[l]name him John. ¹⁴You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. ¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will ^(V)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ^[m]while still in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶And he will ^(W)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And it is he who will ^(X)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of ^(Y)Elijah, ^(Z)to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^(AA)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^(AB)I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her ^[n]years.” ¹⁹The angel answered and said to him, “I am ^(AC)Gabriel, who ^[o]^(AD)stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, you will 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 at their proper time.”

²¹And meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, 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 repeatedly ^(AE)^[p]made signs to them, and remained speechless. ²³When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home.

²⁴Now after these days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself ^[q]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 ^(AF)take away my disgrace among people.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶Now in the sixth month the angel ^(AG)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named ^(AH)Nazareth, ²⁷to ^(AI)a virgin ^[r]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(AJ)of the ^[s]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[t]Mary. ²⁸And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord ^[u]is with you.” ²⁹But she ^(AK)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “^(AL)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you ^(AM)shall name Him Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AN)the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^(AO)the throne of His father David; ³³^(AP)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(AQ)and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[v]am a virgin?” ³⁵The angel answered and said to her, “^(AR)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(AS)the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also ^(AT)the ^[w]holy Child will be called ^(AU)the Son of God. ³⁶And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and ^[x]she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷For ^(AV)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹Now ^[y]at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to ^(AW)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(AX)filled 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! ⁴³And ^[z]how has it happened to me that the mother of ^(AY)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And ^(AZ)blessed is she who ^[aa]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[ab]by the Lord.”

Mary’s Song: The Magnificat

⁴⁶And Mary said:

“^(BA)My soul ^[ac]^(BB)exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷And ^(BC)my spirit has rejoiced in ^(BD)God my Savior.
⁴⁸For ^(BE)He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will ^[ad]call me ^(BF)blessed.
⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰^(BG)And His mercy is to generation ^[ae]after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
⁵¹^(BH)He has done ^[af]mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the ^[ag]thoughts of their hearts.
⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has ^(BI)exalted those who were humble.
⁵³^(BJ)He has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty-handed.
⁵⁴He has given help to His servant Israel,
^[ah]In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵^(BK)Just as He spoke to our fathers,
^(BL)To Abraham and his ^[ai]descendants forever.”

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

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷Now the time ^[aj]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[ak]^(BM)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹And it happened that on ^(BN)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[al]after his father. ⁶⁰And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(BO)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²And they ^[am]^(BP)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[an]as follows, “^(BQ)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ⁶⁴^(BR)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. ⁶⁵And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in ^(BS)the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed ^(BT)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah ^(BU)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(BV)prophesied, saying:

⁶⁸“^(BW)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished ^(BX)redemption for His people,
⁶⁹And has raised up a ^(BY)horn of salvation for us
In the house of ^(BZ)His servant David—
⁷⁰^(CA)Just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets ^(CB)from ancient times—
⁷¹^[ao]^(CC)Salvation ^(CD)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷²^(CE)To show mercy to our fathers,
^(CF)And to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³^(CG)The oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
⁷⁴To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Would serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵^(CH)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
⁷⁶And you, child, also will be called the ^(CI)prophet of ^(CJ)the Most High;
For you will go on ^(CK)before the Lord to ^(CL)prepare His ways;
⁷⁷To give His people the knowledge of salvation
^[ap]By ^(CM)the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which ^(CN)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
⁷⁹^(CO)To shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the ^(CP)way of peace.”

⁸⁰^(CQ)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Footnotes

Luke 1:1 Or on which there is full conviction
Luke 1:2 Lit became
Luke 1:2 Or ministers
Luke 1:2 I.e., gospel
Luke 1:3 Or followed
Luke 1:4 Lit words
Luke 1:4 Or orally instructed in
Luke 1:5 Gr Abia
Luke 1:5 I.e., of priestly descent
Luke 1:7 Lit days
Luke 1:12 Lit fell upon
Luke 1:13 Lit call his name
Luke 1:15 Lit still from his
Luke 1:18 Lit days
Luke 1:19 Lit stand beside
Luke 1:22 Possibly gesturing or nodding to them
Luke 1:24 Or hidden
Luke 1:27 Unlike engagement, a betrothed couple was considered married, but did not yet live together
Luke 1:27 Lit house
Luke 1:27 Gr Mariam, Heb Miriam; so throughout Luke
Luke 1:28 Or be
Luke 1:34 Lit do not know a man
Luke 1:35 Lit the holy one fathered
Luke 1:36 Lit this is the sixth month for her who
Luke 1:39 Lit in these days
Luke 1:43 Lit from where this to me
Luke 1:45 Or believed, because there will be
Luke 1:45 Lit from
Luke 1:46 Lit makes great
Luke 1:48 Or consider
Luke 1:50 Lit and
Luke 1:51 Lit might
Luke 1:51 Lit thought, attitude
Luke 1:54 Lit So as to remember
Luke 1:55 Lit seed
Luke 1:57 Lit was fulfilled
Luke 1:58 Lit magnified His mercy with her
Luke 1:59 Lit after the name of
Luke 1:62 I.e., gestured or nodded
Luke 1:63 Lit saying
Luke 1:71 Or Deliverance
Luke 1:77 Or Consisting in

John 1

New American Standard Bible

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and the Word was ^(C)with God, and ^(D)the Word was God. ²^[a]He was in the beginning with God. ³^(E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him ^[b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ⁴^(F)In Him was life, and the life was ^(G)the Light of mankind. ⁵And ^(H)the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[c]grasp it.

The Witness John the Baptist

⁶A man ^[d]came, one sent from God, and his name was ^(I)John. ⁷^[e]He came ^[f]^(J)as a witness, to testify about the Light, ^(K)so that all might believe through him. ⁸^[g]^(L)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹^[h]This was ^(M)the true Light ^[i]that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. ¹⁰He was in the world, and ^(N)the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not ^[j]know Him. ¹¹He came to His ^[k]own, and His own people did not ^[l]accept Him. ¹²But ^[m]as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^(O)children of God, ^(P)to those who ^[n]believe in His name, ¹³^(Q)who were ^[o]born, not of ^[p]blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴And ^(R)the Word ^(S)became flesh, and ^(T)dwelt among us; and ^(U)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of ^(V)grace and ^(W)truth. ¹⁵John *^(X)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^(Y)He who is coming after me has proved to be ^[q]my superior, ^(Z)because He existed before me.’” ¹⁶For of His ^(AA)fullness ^[r]we have all received, and ^[s]grace upon grace. ¹⁷For ^(AB)the Law was given through Moses; ^(AC)grace and ^(AD)truth ^[t]were realized through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸^(AE)No one has seen God at any time; ^(AF)God the only Son, who is ^(AG)in the ^[u]arms of the Father, ^(AH)He has ^[v]explained Him.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹This is ^(AI)the testimony of John, when ^(AJ)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(AK)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(AL)I am not the ^[w]Christ.” ²¹And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(AM)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AN)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am ^(AO)the voice of one calling ^[x]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[y]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(AP)the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, saying, “^(AQ)I baptize ^[z]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷It is ^(AR)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(AS)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany ^(AT)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(AU)the Lamb of God who ^(AV)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(AW)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[aa]my superior, ^(AX)because He existed before me.’ ³¹And I did not recognize ^[ab]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[ac]in water.” ³²And John ^(AY)testified, saying, “^(AZ)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³And I did not recognize ^[ad]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[ae]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(BA)this is the One who baptizes ^[af]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(BB)the ^[ag]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵Again ^(BC)the next day John was standing ^[ah]with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(BD)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “^(BE)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the ^[ai]tenth hour. ⁴⁰^(BF)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(BG)Messiah” (which translated means ^[aj]Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[ak]^(BH)John; you shall be called ^(BI)Cephas” (which is translated ^[al]^(BJ)Peter).

⁴³^(BK)The next day He ^[am]decided to go to ^(BL)Galilee, and He *found ^(BM)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(BN)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴Now ^(BO)Philip was from ^(BP)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵^(BQ)Philip *found ^(BR)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(BS)Moses wrote in the Law, and ^(BT)the prophets also wrote: Jesus ^(BU)the son of Joseph, from ^(BV)Nazareth!” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “^(BW)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” ^(BX)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an ^(BY)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(BZ)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered Him, “^(CA)Rabbi, You are ^(CB)the Son of God; You are the ^(CC)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(CD)heaven opened and ^(CE)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(CF)the Son of Man.”