Luke:1:5-80
Seeker Overlay ON
*
In the days of Herod ,
king of Judea ,
there was a priest named Zechari '
ah ,
of the division of Abi '
jah ;
and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron ,
and her name was Elizabeth .
*
And they were both righteous before God ,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless .
*
But they had no child ,
because Elizabeth was barren ,
and both were advanced in years .
*
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty ,
*
according to the custom of the priesthood ,
it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense .
*
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense .
*
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense .
*
And Zechari '
ah was troubled when he saw him ,
and fear fell upon him .
*
But the angel said to him , "
Do not be afraid ,
Zechari '
ah ,
for your prayer is heard ,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son ,
and you shall call his name John .
*
And you will have joy and gladness ,
and many will rejoice at his birth ;
*
for he will be great before the Lord ,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink ,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ,
even from his mother '
s womb .
*
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God ,
*
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli '
jah ,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children ,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared ."
*
And Zechari '
ah said to the angel , "
How shall I know this ?
For I am an old man ,
and my wife is advanced in years ."
*
And the angel answered him , "
I am Gabriel ,
who stand in the presence of God ;
and I was sent to speak to you ,
and to bring you this good news .
*
And behold ,
you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass ,
because you did not believe my words ,
which will be fulfilled in their time ."
*
And the people were waiting for Zechari '
ah ,
and they wondered at his delay in the temple .
*
And when he came out ,
he could not speak to them ,
and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple ;
and he made signs to them and remained dumb .
*
And when his time of service was ended ,
he went to his home .
*
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived ,
and for five months she hid herself ,
saying ,
* "
Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me ,
to take away my reproach among men ."
*
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth ,
*
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph ,
of the house of David ;
and the virgin '
s name was Mary .
*
And he came to her and said , "
Hail ,
O favored one ,
the Lord is with you !"
*
But she was greatly troubled at the saying ,
and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be .
*
And the angel said to her , "
Do not be afraid ,
Mary ,
for you have found favor with God .
*
And behold ,
you will conceive in your womb and bear a son ,
and you shall call his name Jesus .
*
He will be great ,
and will be called the Son of the Most High ;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David ,
*
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever ;
and of his kingdom there will be no end ."
*
And Mary said to the angel , "
How shall this be ,
since I have no husband ?"
*
And the angel said to her , "
The Holy Spirit will come upon you ,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you ;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy ,
the Son of God .
*
And behold ,
your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son ;
and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren .
*
For with God nothing will be impossible ."
*
And Mary said , "
Behold ,
I am the handmaid of the Lord ;
let it be to me according to your word ."
And the angel departed from her .
*
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country ,
to a city of Judah ,
*
and she entered the house of Zechari '
ah and greeted Elizabeth .
*
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary ,
the babe leaped in her womb ;
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
*
and she exclaimed with a loud cry , "
Blessed are you among women ,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb !
*
And why is this granted me ,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me ?
*
For behold ,
when the voice of your greeting came to my ears ,
the babe in my womb leaped for joy .
*
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord ."
*
And Mary said , "
My soul magnifies the Lord ,
*
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ,
*
for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden .
For behold ,
henceforth all generations will call me blessed ;
*
for he who is mighty has done great things for me ,
and holy is his name .
*
And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation .
*
He has shown strength with his arm ,
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts ,
*
he has put down the mighty from their thrones ,
and exalted those of low degree ;
*
he has filled the hungry with good things ,
and the rich he has sent empty away .
*
He has helped his servant Israel ,
in remembrance of his mercy ,
*
as he spoke to our fathers ,
to Abraham and to his posterity for ever ."
*
And Mary remained with her about three months ,
and returned to her home .
*
Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered ,
and she gave birth to a son .
*
And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her ,
and they rejoiced with her .
*
And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child ;
and they would have named him Zechari '
ah after his father ,
*
but his mother said , "
Not so ;
he shall be called John ."
*
And they said to her , "
None of your kindred is called by this name ."
*
And they made signs to his father ,
inquiring what he would have him called .
*
And he asked for a writing tablet ,
and wrote , "
His name is John ."
And they all marveled .
*
And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed ,
and he spoke ,
blessing God .
*
And fear came on all their neighbors .
And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea ;
*
and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts ,
saying , "
What then will this child be ?"
For the hand of the Lord was with him .
*
And his father Zechari '
ah was filled with the Holy Spirit ,
and prophesied ,
saying ,
* "
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ,
for he has visited and redeemed his people ,
*
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David ,
*
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old ,
*
that we should be saved from our enemies ,
and from the hand of all who hate us ;
*
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers ,
and to remember his holy covenant ,
*
the oath which he swore to our father Abraham ,
*
to grant us that we ,
being delivered from the hand of our enemies ,
might serve him without fear ,
*
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life .
*
And you ,
child ,
will be called the prophet of the Most High ;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways ,
*
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins ,
*
through the tender mercy of our God ,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high
*
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death ,
to guide our feet into the way of peace ."
*
And the child grew and became strong in spirit ,
and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel .
![[pBiblx2]](/img/pbiblx2_logo3.png){kind=logo}