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¹ Since many took in hand to draw up an account concerning the matters having been borne out among us,² as those from the beginning delivered to us, becoming eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word,³ it seemed good also to me, having traced out all things accurately from the first, to write in order to you, most excellent Theophilus,⁴ that you may know the certainty concerning the words which you were taught.

⁵ In the days of Herod the king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the daily course of Abijah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.⁷ And no child was born to them, because Elizabeth was barren. And both were advanced in their days.⁸ And it happened in his serving as priest in the order of his course before God,⁹ according to the custom of the priests, entering into the Holy Place of the Lord, it was Zacharias' lot to burn incense.¹⁰ And all the multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.¹¹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.¹² And seeing this , Zacharias was troubled, and fear fell on him.¹³ But the angel said to him, Do not fear, Zacharias, because your prayer was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you shall call his name John.¹⁴ And he will be joy and exultation to you, and many will rejoice over his birth.¹⁵ For he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord, and he shall not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled of the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.¹⁶ And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.¹⁷ And he will go out before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah "to turn the hearts of fathers to their children," and disobedient ones to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people having beenprepared for the Lord. Mal. 4:5, 6 ¹⁸ And Zacharias said to the angel, By what shall I know this? For I am old and my wife is advanced in her days.¹⁹ And answering, the angel said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you the good news of these things.²⁰ And behold, you shall be silent and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which shall be fulfilled in their season.²¹ And the people were expecting Zacharias, and they wondered at his delay in the temple.²² But coming out, he was not able to speak to them, and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he was making signs to them and continued dumb.²³ And it happened when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house.²⁴ And after these days his wife Elizabeth conceived. And she hid herself five months, saying,²⁵ So has the Lord done to me in the days in which He looked on me to take away my reproach among men.

²⁶ And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,²⁷ to a virgin who had been betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.²⁸ And entering, the angel said to her, Hail, one having received grace! The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women!²⁹ And seeing this , she was disturbed at his word, and considered what kind of greeting this might be.³⁰ And the angel said to her, Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor from God.³¹ And behold! You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you will call His name Jesus.³² This One will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob to the ages, and of His kingdom there will be no end.³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I do not know a man?³⁵ And answering, the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for this reason that Holy One being born of you will be called Son of God.³⁶ And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth! She also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;³⁷ for nothing shall be impossible with God.³⁸ And Mary said, Behold, the slave woman of the Lord! May it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ And rising up in these days, Mary went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah.⁴⁰ And she entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.⁴¹ And it happened, as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the babe in her womb leaped, and Elizabeth was filled of the Holy Spirit.⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, You are being blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!⁴³ And why is this to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me?⁴⁴ For behold, as the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultation.⁴⁵ And blessed is she believing, because there will be a completion to the things spoken to her from the Lord.⁴⁶ And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,⁴⁷ and my spirit exulted in God My Savior.⁴⁸ For He looked upon the humiliation of His slave woman. For, behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed. 1 Sam. 1:11 ⁴⁹ For the Mighty One did great things to me, and holy is His name.⁵⁰ And His mercy is to generations of generations to those fearing Him. Psa. 103:17 ⁵¹ He performed mightily with His arm; He scattered proud ones in the thought of their heart.⁵² He put down powerful ones from thrones, and exalted lowly ones.⁵³ He filled the hungry with good things, and He sent the rich away empty.⁵⁴ He helped His servant Israel in order to remember mercy,⁵⁵ even as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed to the age.⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.

⁵⁷ And the time was fulfilled to Elizabeth for her to bear, and she bore a son.⁵⁸ And the neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord magnified His mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.⁵⁹ And it happened on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling it by his father's name, Zacharias.⁶⁰ And his mother answered, saying, Not so, but he shall be called John.⁶¹ And they said to her, No one is among your kindred who is called by this name.⁶² And they signaled to his father, what he might desire him to be called.⁶³ And asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, John is his name. And all marveled.⁶⁴ And instantly his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed , and he spoke, blessing God.⁶⁵ And fear came on all those living around them. And in all the hill country of Judea all these things were talked about.⁶⁶ And all who heard laid them up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷ And his father Zacharias was filled of the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,⁶⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He visited and worked redemption for His people.⁶⁹ And He raised up a Horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David;⁷⁰ even as He spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from the age before :⁷¹ Salvation from ones hostile to us, and from the hand of all the ones hostile to us,⁷² to execute mercy with our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant,⁷³ the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,⁷⁴ to give to us, that we being delivered out of the hand of those hostile to us, in order to serve Him without fear,⁷⁵ in consecration and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, Mal. 3:1 ⁷⁷ to give a knowledge of salvation to His people by remission of their sins,⁷⁸ through the tender heart of mercy of our God, in which the Dayspring from on high will visit us,⁷⁹ to appear to those sitting in darkness and in shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace. Isa. 9:2 ⁸⁰ And the child grew, and became strong in spirit. And he was in deserted places until the day of his showing to Israel.