¹Seeing that many have undertaken to draw up an account concerning the proceedings fully carried through among us, ²just as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses to, and had become servants of, the word – just as they handed those things down to us – ³so it seemed right to me too, who has followed everything accurately from the beginning, to write to you in an orderly way, Your Excellency Theophilus, ⁴in order that you might come to know the certainty of the matters about which you have been taught orally. ⁵In the days of Herod the king of Judaea, there was a certain priest by the name of Zacharias, from the division of Abijah, whose wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly. ⁷Now they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were elderly, ⁸and it came to pass while he was holding the office of priest in the appointed order of his division before God, ⁹in accordance with the custom of the priestly office, that he received the lot of burning incense as he went into the Lord's sanctuary. ¹⁰And while the whole gathering of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense, ¹¹an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right hand side of the incense altar. ¹²And Zacharias was alarmed when he saw him, and fear fell on him, ¹³but the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your supplication has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call him John, ¹⁴and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great in the Lord's sight, and he will not drink any wine or liquor at all, and he will be filled with holy spirit even from his mother's womb, ¹⁶and he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go ahead of him in the spirit and power of Elijah, in order to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the prudence of the righteous, to prepare a people equipped for the Lord.” ¹⁸Then Zacharias said to the angel, “By what means will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is elderly.” ¹⁹Then the angel replied and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you, and to bring you the good tidings of these things. ²⁰Now look, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their due time.” ²¹Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they were surprised at him taking so much time in the sanctuary, ²²and when he came out, he was not able to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. So he kept making signs to them, and he remained mute. ²³And it came to pass when the days of his officiating service were completed that he went off to his home, ²⁴and after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she hid herself away for five months, and she said, ²⁵“This is how the Lord has acted for me in the days when he condescended to remove my reproach among men.” ²⁶Then in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, the name of which was Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary, ²⁸and when the angel had come to her, he said, “Greetings, you who have been shown grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” ²⁹Now when she saw this, she was deeply disturbed at his words, and she pondered on what kind of greeting this might be, ³⁰but the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. ³¹And look, you will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and you will give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great, and he will be called the son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, ³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages, and there will be no end to his kingdom.” ³⁴Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, seeing I do not know a man?” ³⁵At this the angel answered and said to her, “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you, and on account of this the holy child who will be born will be called the son of God. ³⁶And look, Elizabeth your kinswoman has herself also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren, ³⁷for nothing will prove impossible with God.” ³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the maidservant of the Lord. May it come to pass for me according to your words.” And the angel departed from her. ³⁹Then in those days Mary got up and went with haste into the mountainous region, to a town of Judah, ⁴⁰and she went into Zacharias's house and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹Then it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, that the baby in her womb leapt, and Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit, ⁴²and she called out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³And from where is this privilege of mine that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴Because, you see, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my womb. ⁴⁵And blessed is she who has believed that an accomplishment of the things spoken to her by the Lord will take place.” ⁴⁶Then Mary said,

“My being magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour,

⁴⁸Because he has looked favourably on the lowly status of his maidservant.

For it will be seen that from now on

All generations will pronounce me blessed,

⁴⁹Because he who is mighty

Has done great deeds for me,

And holy is his name,

⁵⁰And his mercy is on those who fear him,

From generation to generation.

⁵¹He has acted in strength with his arm;

He has scattered those who are arrogant

In the thoughts of their heart.

⁵²He has removed powerful men from their thrones

And exalted the lowly;

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things

And sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant,

Remembering mercy –

⁵⁵As he said to our fathers,

To Abraham and to his seed

– Throughout the age.”

⁵⁶Then Mary remained with her for about three months, and then returned to her house. ⁵⁷Meanwhile Elizabeth's time for her to give birth became due, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbours and relatives heard how the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And it came to pass on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, and they called him after the name of his father Zacharias, ⁶⁰but his mother replied and said, “No; instead, he will be called John.” ⁶¹Then they said to her, “There is no-one in your family who is called by that name.” ⁶²So they made signs to his father as to what he wished him to be called. ⁶³At this he asked for a writing-tablet and wrote as follows: “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ⁶⁴Then his mouth was immediately opened, as was his tongue, and he spoke blessing God. ⁶⁵Then fear came upon all those who lived around them, and in the entire mountainous region of Judaea all these matters were talked about, ⁶⁶and all those who heard it laid it to heart and said, “What then will this child turn out to be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷Then Zacharias his father was filled with holy spirit, and he prophesied and said,

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

Because he has visited and accomplished redemption

For his people,

⁶⁹And he has raised a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David his servant,

⁷⁰As he spoke by the mouth of the holy ones

– His prophets of old time –

⁷¹Bringing about salvation from our enemies

And from the hand of all those who hate us,

⁷²In showing mercy to our fathers,

And in remembering his holy covenant,

⁷³– The oath which he swore to Abraham our father –

To grant to us,

⁷⁴That we,

After being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve him fearlessly,

⁷⁵In sanctity and righteousness in his sight,

All the days of our life.

⁷⁶And you, child,

Will be called a prophet of the Most High,

For you will go ahead of the Lord

To prepare his ways,

⁷⁷To impart knowledge of salvation to his people,

By forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸By means of the compassionate mercy of our God,

By which one who has sprung up

Has visited us from on high,

⁷⁹In appearing to those living in darkness

And the shadow of death,

To direct our feet onto the way of peace.”

⁸⁰So the child grew up and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert places until the day of his being presented to Israel.

Reference(s) in Chapter 1: v.17 ↔ Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:23^MT (Malachi 4:5^AV), Malachi 3:24^MT (Malachi 4:6^AV).