1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us;

² According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word:

³ It seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴ That thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

⁷ This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.

⁸ He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

⁹ That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹ He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

¹² But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.

¹³ Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John beareth witness of him, and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I spoke: He that shall come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me.

¹⁶ And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.

¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

² Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren.

³ And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram.

⁴ And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon.

⁵ And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse.

⁶ And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias.

⁷ And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa.

⁸ And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias.

⁹ And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias.

¹⁰ And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manasses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias.

¹¹ And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon.

¹² And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel.

¹³ And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor.

¹⁴ And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud.

¹⁵ And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob.

¹⁶ And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

¹⁷ So all the generations, from Abraham to David, are fourteen generations. And from David to the transmigration of Babylon, are fourteen generations: and from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

²³ And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years; being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Mathat,

²⁴ Who was of Levi, who was of Melchi, who was of Janne, who was of Joseph,

²⁵ Who was of Mathathias, who was of Amos, who was of Nahum, who was of Hesli, who was of Nagge,

²⁶ Who was of Mahath, who was of Mathathias, who was of Semei, who was of Joseph, who was of Juda,

²⁷ Who was of Joanna, who was of Reza, who was of Zorobabel, who was of Salathiel, who was of Neri,

²⁸ Who was of Melchi, who was of Addi, who was of Cosan, who was of Helmadan, who was of Her,

²⁹ Who was of Jesus, who was of Eliezer, who was of Jorim, who was of Mathat, who was of Levi,

³⁰ Who was of Simeon, who was of Judas, who was of Joseph, who was of Jona, who was of Eliakim,

³¹ Who was of Melea, who was of Menna, who was of Mathatha, who was of Nathan, who was of David,

³² Who was of Jesse, who was of Obed, who was of Booz, who was of Salmon, who was of Naasson,

³³ Who was of Aminadab, who was of Aram, who was of Esron, who was of Phares, who was of Judas,

³⁴ Who was of Jacob, who was of Isaac, who was of Abraham, who was of Thare, who was of Nachor,

³⁵ Who was of Sarug, who was of Ragau, who was of Phaleg, who was of Heber, who was of Sale,

³⁶ Who was of Cainan, who was of Arphaxad, who was of Sem, who was of Noe, who was of Lamech,

³⁷ Who was of Mathusale, who was of Henoch, who was of Jared, who was of Malaleel, who was of Cainan,

³⁸ Who was of Henos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam, who was of God.

⁵ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.

⁶ And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame.

⁷ And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.

⁸ And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God,

⁹ According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord.

¹⁰ And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense.

¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the alter of incense.

¹² And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

¹³ But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John:

¹⁴ And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity.

¹⁵ For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁶ And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

¹⁷ And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.

¹⁸ And Zachary said to the angel: Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.

¹⁹ And the angel answering, said to him: I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.

²⁰ And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.

²¹ And the people were waiting for Zachary; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the temple.

²² And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb.

²³ And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

²⁴ And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying:

²⁵ Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he hath had regard to take away my reproach among men.

²⁶ And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,

²⁷ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸ And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

²⁹ Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

³⁰ And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

³¹ Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou 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 David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

³³ And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

³⁵ And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

³⁶ And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:

³⁷ Because no word shall be impossible with God.

³⁸ And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.