Luke 1

Contemporary English Version

1 Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. ²They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. ³So I made a careful study^[a] of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honorable Theophilus, ⁴I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard.

An Angel Tells about the Birth of John

⁵^(A) When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron.^[b] ⁶Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. ⁷But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.

⁸One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. ⁹According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense,^[c] ¹⁰while the people stood outside praying.

¹¹All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. ¹²Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. ¹³But the angel told him:

Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. ¹⁵^(B) Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.

¹⁶John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷^(C) He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah^[d] had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. This is how John will get people ready for the Lord.

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old.”

¹⁹^(D) The angel answered, “I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. ²⁰You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to.”

²¹The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying in the temple so long. ²²When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing.

²³When Zechariah's time of service in the temple was over, he went home. ²⁴Soon after this, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, ²⁵“What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.”^[e]

An Angel Tells about the Birth of Jesus

²⁶One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee ²⁷^(E) with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. ²⁸The angel greeted Mary and said, “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. ³⁰Then the angel told Mary, “Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, ³¹^(F) and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. ³²^(G) He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. ³³He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen? I am not even married!”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. ³⁶Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. ³⁷^(H) Nothing is impossible for God!”

³⁸Mary said, “I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. ⁴⁰She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her.

The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. ⁴²^(I) Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. ⁴³Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. ⁴⁵The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

Mary's Song of Praise

⁴⁶^(J) Mary said:

With all my heart
    I praise the Lord,
⁴⁷and I am glad
    because of God my Savior.
⁴⁸God cares for me,
    his humble servant.
From now on,
all people will say
    God has blessed me.
⁴⁹God All-Powerful has done
great things for me,
    and his name is holy.
⁵⁰He always shows mercy
to everyone
    who worships him.
⁵¹The Lord has used
    his powerful arm
to scatter those
    who are proud.
⁵²^(K) God drags strong rulers
    from their thrones
and puts humble people
    in places of power.
⁵³God gives the hungry
    good things to eat,
and sends the rich away
    with nothing.
⁵⁴God helps his servant Israel
and is always merciful
    to his people.
⁵⁵^(L) The Lord made this promise
    to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his family
    forever!

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

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷When Elizabeth's son was born, ⁵⁸her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.

⁵⁹^(M) Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands.^[f] They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John.”

⁶¹The people argued, “No one in your family has ever been named John.” ⁶²So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.

⁶³Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. ⁶⁴At once, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.

⁶⁵All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. ⁶⁶Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew the Lord was with him.

Zechariah Praises the Lord

⁶⁷The Holy Spirit came upon Zechariah, and he began to speak:

⁶⁸Praise the Lord,
    the God of Israel!
He has come
    to save his people.
⁶⁹Our God has given us
    a mighty Savior^[g]
from the family
    of David his servant.
⁷⁰Long ago the Lord promised
by the words
    of his holy prophets
⁷¹to save us from our enemies
and from everyone
    who hates us.
⁷²God said he would be kind
to our people and keep
    his sacred promise.
⁷³He told our ancestor Abraham
⁷⁴that he would rescue us
    from our enemies.
Then we could serve him
    without fear,
⁷⁵by being holy and good
    as long as we live.

⁷⁶^(N) You, my son, will be called
    the prophet of God Most High.
You will go ahead of the Lord
to get everything ready
    for him.
⁷⁷You will tell his people
    that they can be saved
when their sins
    are forgiven.
⁷⁸God's love and kindness
    will shine upon us
like the sun that rises
    in the sky.^[h]
⁷⁹^(O) On us who live
in the dark shadow
    of death
this light will shine
to guide us
    into a life of peace.

⁸⁰As John grew up, God's Spirit gave him great power. John lived in the desert until the time he was sent to the people of Israel.

Footnotes

1.3 a careful study: Or “a study from the beginning.”
1.5 Aaron: The brother of Moses and the first priest.
1.9 burn incense: This was done twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon.
1.17 Elijah: The prophet Elijah was known for his power to work miracles.
1.25 keep people from looking down on me: When a married woman could not have children, it was thought that the Lord was punishing her.
1.59 what the Law of Moses commands: This refers to circumcision. It is the cutting off of skin from the private part of Jewish boys eight days after birth to show that they belong to the Lord.
1.69 a mighty Savior: The Greek text has “a horn of salvation.” In the Scriptures animal horns are often a symbol of great strength.
1.78 like the sun that rises in the sky: Or “like the Messiah coming from heaven.”

Luke 2

Contemporary English Version

The Birth of Jesus

(Matthew 1.18-25)

2 About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books.^[a] ²These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.^[b]

³Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. ⁴So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.

⁵Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, ⁶and while they were there, ⁷she gave birth to her first-born^[c] son. She dressed him in baby clothes^[d] and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds

⁸That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. ⁹^(A) All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. ¹⁰But the angel said, “Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. ¹¹This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. ¹²You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.”

¹³Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:

¹⁴“Praise God in heaven!
Peace on earth to everyone
who pleases God.”

¹⁵After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” ¹⁶They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.

¹⁷When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. ¹⁸Everyone listened and was surprised. ¹⁹But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.

²⁰As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.

²¹^(B) Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands.^[e] And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby.

Simeon Praises the Lord

²²^(C) The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born.^[f]

They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord, ²³^(D) just as the Law of the Lord says, “Each first-born^[g] baby boy belongs to the Lord.” ²⁴The Law of the Lord also says parents have to offer a sacrifice, giving at least a pair of doves or two young pigeons. So that is what Mary and Joseph did.

²⁵At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for him to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him ²⁶and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord.

²⁷When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. ²⁸Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God,

²⁹“Lord, I am your servant,
    and now I can die in peace,
because you have kept
    your promise to me.
³⁰With my own eyes I have seen
what you have done
    to save your people,
³¹and foreign nations
    will also see this.
³²^(E) Your mighty power is a light
    for all nations,
and it will bring honor
    to your people Israel.”

³³Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said. ³⁴Then he blessed them and told Mary, “This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, ³⁵and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking.”

Anna Speaks about the Child Jesus

³⁶^(F) The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died. ³⁷And now she was 84 years old.^[h] Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating.^[i]

³⁸At this time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.

The Return to Nazareth

³⁹^(G) After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹^(H) Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. ⁴²And when Jesus was twelve years old, they all went there as usual for the celebration. ⁴³After Passover his parents left, but they did not know that Jesus had stayed on in the city. ⁴⁴They thought he was traveling with some other people, and they went a whole day before they started looking for him. ⁴⁵When they could not find him with their relatives and friends, they went back to Jerusalem and started looking for him there.

⁴⁶Three days later they found Jesus sitting in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. ⁴⁷Everyone who heard him was surprised at how much he knew and at the answers he gave.

⁴⁸When his parents found him, they were amazed. His mother said, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been very worried, and we have been searching for you!”

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I would be in my Father's house?”^[j] ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he meant.

⁵¹Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and obeyed them. His mother kept on thinking about all that had happened.

⁵²^(I) Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people.

Footnotes

2.1 names … listed in record books: This was done so that everyone could be made to pay taxes to the Emperor.
2.2 Quirinius was governor of Syria: It is known that Quirinius made a record of the people in a.d. 6 or 7. But the exact date of the record taking that Luke mentions is not known.
2.7 first-born: The Jewish people said that the first-born son in each of their families belonged to the Lord.
2.7 dressed him in baby clothes: The Greek text has “wrapped him in wide strips of cloth,” which was how young babies were dressed.
2.21 what the Law of Moses commands: See the note at 1.59.
2.22 after her baby is born: After a Jewish mother gave birth to a son, she was considered “unclean” and had to stay home until he was circumcised (see the note at 1.59). Then she had to stay home for another 33 days, before offering a sacrifice to the Lord.
2.23 first-born: See the note at 2.7.
2.37 And now she was 84 years old: Or “And now she had been a widow for 84 years.”
2.37 without eating: The Jewish people sometimes went without eating (also called “fasting”) to show their love for God or to show sorrow for their sins.
2.49 in my Father's house: Or “doing my Father's work.”