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¹ Forsothe for manye men enforceden to ordeyne the tellyng of thingis, whiche ben fillid in vs,² as thei that seyn atte the bigynnyng, and weren ministris of the word,³ bitaken, it is seen also to me, hauynge alle thingis diligentli bi ordre, to write to thee,⁴ thou best Theofile, that thou knowe the treuthe of tho wordis, of whiche thou art lerned.

⁵ In the daies of Eroude, kyng of Judee, ther was a prest, Sakarie bi name, of the sorte of Abia, and his wijf was of the douytris of Aaron, and hir name was Elizabeth.⁶ And bothe weren iust bifor God, goynge in alle the maundementis and iustifiyngis of the Lord, withouten pleynt.⁷ And thei hadden no child, for Elizabeth was bareyn, and bothe weren of grete age in her daies.⁸ And it bifel, that whanne Zacarie schulde do the office of preesthod, in the ordre of his cours tofor God,⁹ aftir the custome of the preesthod, he wente forth bi lot, and entride in to the temple, to encense.¹⁰ And al the multitude of the puple was with outforth, and preiede in the our of encensyng.¹¹ And an aungel of the Lord apperide to hym, and stood on the riythalf of the auter of encense.¹² And Zacarie seynge was afraied, and drede fel vpon hym.¹³ And the aungel seide to hym, Zacarie, drede thou not; for thi preyer is herd, and Elizabeth, thi wijf, schal bere to thee a sone, and his name schal be clepid Joon.¹⁴ And ioye and gladyng schal be to thee; and many schulen `haue ioye in his natyuyte.¹⁵ For he schal be greet bifor the Lord, and he schal not drynke wyn and sidir, and he schal be fulfillid with the Hooli Goost yit of his modir wombe.¹⁶ And he schal conuerte many of the children of Israel to her Lord God;¹⁷ and he schal go bifor hym in the spirit and the vertu of Helie; and he schal turne the hertis of the fadris in to the sones, and men out of bileue to the prudence of iust men, to make redi a perfit puple to the Lord.¹⁸ And Zacarie seide to the aungel, Wherof schal Y wite this? for Y am eld, and my wijf hath gon fer in to hir daies.¹⁹ And the aungel answeride, and seide to hym, For Y am Gabriel, that stonde niy bifor God; and Y am sent to thee to speke, and to euangelize to thee these thingis.²⁰ And lo! thou schalt be doumbe, and thou schalt not mow speke til in to the dai, in which these thingis schulen be don; for thou hast not bileued to my wordis, whiche schulen be fulfillid in her tyme.²¹ And the puple was abidynge Zacarie, and thei wondriden, that he tariede in the temple.²² And he yede out, and myyte not speke to hem, and thei knewen that he hadde seyn a visioun in the temple. And he bikenyde to hem, and he dwellide stille doumbe.²³ And it was don, whanne the daies of his office weren fulfillid, he wente in to his hous.²⁴ And aftir these daies Elizabeth, his wijf, conseyuede, and hidde hir fyue monethis, and seide,²⁵ For so the Lord dide to me in the daies, in whiche he bihelde, to take awei my repreef among men.

²⁶ But in the sixte moneth the aungel Gabriel was sent fro God in to a citee of Galilee, whos name was Nazareth,²⁷ to a maidyn, weddid to a man, whos name was Joseph, of the hous of Dauid; and the name of the maidun was Marie.²⁸ And the aungel entride to hir, and seide, Heil, ful of grace; the Lord be with thee; blessid be thou among wymmen.²⁹ And whanne sche hadde herd, sche was troublid in his word, and thouyte what maner salutacioun this was.³⁰ And the aungel seide to hir, Ne drede thou not, Marie, for thou hast foundun grace anentis God.³¹ Lo! thou schalt conceyue in wombe, and schalt bere a sone, and thou schalt clepe his name Jhesus.³² This schal be greet, and he schal be clepid the sone of the Hiyeste; and the Lord God schal yeue to hym the seete of Dauid, his fadir, and he schal regne in the hous of Jacob with outen ende,³³ and of his rewme schal be noon ende.³⁴ And Marie seide to the aungel, On what maner schal this thing be doon, for Y knowe not man?³⁵ And the aungel answeride, and seide to hir, The Hooly Goost schal come fro aboue in to thee, and the vertu of the Hiyeste schal ouerschadewe thee; and therfor that hooli thing that schal be borun of thee, schal be clepid the sone of God.³⁶ And lo! Elizabeth, thi cosyn, and sche also hath conceyued a sone in hir eelde, and this moneth is the sixte to hir that is clepid bareyn;³⁷ for euery word schal not be inpossible anentis God.³⁸ And Marie seide, Lo! the handmaydyn of the Lord; be it don to me aftir thi word. And the aungel departide fro hir.

³⁹ And Marie roos vp in tho daies, and wente with haaste in to the mounteyns, in to a citee of Judee.⁴⁰ And sche entride in to the hous of Zacarie, and grette Elizabeth.⁴¹ And it was don, as Elizabeth herde the salutacioun of Marie, the yong child in hir wombe gladide. And Elizabeth was fulfillid with the Hooli Goost,⁴² and criede with a greet vois, and seide, Blessid be thou among wymmen, and blessid be the fruyt of thi wombe.⁴³ And whereof is this thing to me, that the modir of my Lord come to me?⁴⁴ For lo! as the voice of thi salutacioun was maad in myn eeris, the yong child gladide in ioye in my wombe.⁴⁵ And blessid be thou, that hast bileued, for thilke thingis that ben seid of the Lord to thee, schulen be parfitli don.⁴⁶ And Marie seide, Mi soule magnyfieth the Lord,⁴⁷ and my spirit hath gladid in God, myn helthe.⁴⁸ For he hath biholdun the mekenesse of his handmaidun.⁴⁹ For lo! of this alle generaciouns schulen seie that Y am blessid. For he that is myyti hath don to me grete thingis, and his name is hooli.⁵⁰ And his mercy is fro kynrede in to kynredes, to men that dreden hym.⁵¹ He made myyt in his arme, he scaterede proude men with the thouyte of his herte.⁵² He sette doun myyti men fro sete, and enhaunside meke men.⁵³ He hath fulfillid hungri men with goodis, and he hath left riche men voide.⁵⁴ He, hauynge mynde of his mercy, took Israel, his child;⁵⁵ as he hath spokun to oure fadris, to Abraham and to his seed, in to worldis.⁵⁶ And Marie dwellide with hir, as it were thre monethis, and turnede ayen in to hir hous.

⁵⁷ But the tyme of beryng child was fulfillid to Elizabeth, and sche bare a sone.⁵⁸ And the neiyboris and cosyns of hir herden, that the Lord hadde magnyfied his mercy with hir; and thei thankiden hym.⁵⁹ And it was don in the eiyte dai, thei camen to circumcide the child; and thei clepiden hym Zacarie, bi the name of his fadir.⁶⁰ And his moder answeride, and seide, Nay, but he schal be clepid Joon.⁶¹ And thei seiden to hir, For no man is in thi kynrede, that is clepid this name.⁶² And thei bikeneden to his fadir, what he wolde that he were clepid.⁶³ And he axynge a poyntil, wroot, seiynge, Joon is his name.⁶⁴ And alle men wondriden. And anoon his mouth was openyd, and his tunge, and he spak, and blesside God.⁶⁵ And drede was maad on alle her neiyboris, and alle these wordis weren pupplischid on alle the mounteyns of Judee.⁶⁶ And alle men that herden puttiden in her herte, and seiden, What maner child schal this be? For the hoond of the Lord was with hym.

⁶⁷ And Zacarie, his fadir, was fulfillid with the Hooli Goost, and prophesiede,⁶⁸ and seide, Blessid be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visitid, and maad redempcioun of his puple.⁶⁹ And he hath rerid to vs an horn of heelthe in the hous of Dauid, his child.⁷⁰ As he spak bi the mouth of hise hooli prophetis, that weren fro the world.⁷¹ Helthe fro oure enemyes, and fro the hoond of alle men that hatiden vs.⁷² To do merci with oure fadris, and to haue mynde of his hooli testament.⁷³ The greet ooth that he swoor to Abraham, oure fadir, to yyue hym silf to vs.⁷⁴ That we with out drede delyuered fro the hoond of oure enemyes,⁷⁵ serue to hym, in hoolynesse and riytwisnesse bifor hym in alle oure daies.⁷⁶ And thou, child, schalt be clepid the prophete of the Hiyest; for thou schalt go bifor the face of the Lord, to make redi hise weies.⁷⁷ To yyue scyence of helthe to his puple, in to remyssioun of her synnes;⁷⁸ bi the inwardnesse of the merci of oure God, in the whiche he spryngynge vp fro an hiy hath visitid vs.⁷⁹ To yyue liyt to hem that sitten in derknessis and in schadewe of deeth; to dresse oure feet in to the weie of pees.⁸⁰ And the child wexide, and was coumfortid in spirit, and was in desert placis `til to the dai of his schewing to Israel.