Luke 1-2

American Standard Version

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been ^[a]fulfilled among us, ² even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, ³ it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴ that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the ^[b]things ^[c]wherein thou wast instructed.

⁵ There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷ And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now ^[d]well stricken in years.

⁸ Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, ⁹ according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the ^[e]temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴ And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor ^[f]strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he shall ^[g]go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him. ¹⁸ And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife ^[h]well stricken in years. ¹⁹ And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. ²⁰ And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled ^[i]while he tarried in the ^[j]temple. ²² And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the ^[k]temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb. ²³ And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.

²⁴ And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵ Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art ^[l]highly favored, the Lord is with thee^[m]. ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found ^[n]favor with God. ³¹ And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. ³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: ³³ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob ^[o]for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴ And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also ^[p]the holy thing which is begotten ^[q]shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that ^[r]was called barren. ³⁷ For no word from God shall be void of power. ³⁸ And Mary said, Behold, the ^[s]handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; ⁴⁰ and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹ And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; ⁴² and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she that ^[t]believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord. ⁴⁶ And Mary said,

⁵⁶ And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.

⁵⁷ Now Elisabeth’s time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰ And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. ⁶¹ And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. ⁶² And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. ⁶⁴ And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. ⁶⁶ And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

⁸⁰ And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

2 Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all ^[z]the world should be enrolled. ² This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; ⁵ to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. ⁶ And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping ^[aa]watch by night over their flock. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: ¹¹ for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is ^[ab]Christ the Lord. ¹² And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this ^[ae]thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. ¹⁸ And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these ^[af]sayings, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.

²¹ And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called Jesus, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²² And when the days of their purification ^[ag]according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ^[ah]Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, ^[ai]A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. ²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, ²⁸ then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

³³ And his father and his mother were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning him; ³⁴ and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; ³⁵ yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. ³⁶ And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was ^[am]of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, ³⁷ and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks unto God, and spake of him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. ³⁹ And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

⁴⁰ And the child grew, and waxed strong, ^[an]filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

⁴¹ And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not; ⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they sought for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance: ⁴⁵ and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him. ⁴⁶ And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the ^[ao]teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions: ⁴⁷ and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, ^[ap]Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. ⁴⁹ And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be ^[aq]in my Father’s house? ⁵⁰ And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. ⁵¹ And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his mother kept all these ^[ar]sayings in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus advanced in wisdom and ^[as]stature, and in ^[at]favor with God and men.