-
Introduction
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
-
With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
-
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
-
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
-
He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
-
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
-
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
-
And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
-
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.
-
When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
-
After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.
-
“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
-
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
-
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
-
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
-
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
-
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,
-
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
-
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
-
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
-
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
-
Mary Visits Elizabeth
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
-
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
-
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
-
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
