Luke 1 (Contemporary English Version)

Luke 1

 ¹Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. ²They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. ³So I made a careful study ^[a] of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honorable Theophilus, ⁴I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard.

An Angel Tells about the Birth of John

 ⁵When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. ^{[b] 6}Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. ⁷But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. ⁸One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. ⁹According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, ^{[c] 10}while the people stood outside praying. ¹¹All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. ¹²Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. ¹³But the angel told him:

   Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. ¹⁵Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.

    ¹⁶John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah ^[d] had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. That is how John will get people ready for the Lord. ¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old."

    ¹⁹The angel answered, "I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. ²⁰You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to."

    ²¹The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying so long in the temple. ²²When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing.

    ²³When Zechariah's time of service in the temple was over, he went home. ²⁴Soon after that, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, ²⁵"What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me." ^[e]

An Angel Tells about the Birth of Jesus

 ²⁶One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee ²⁷with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. ²⁸The angel greeted Mary and said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you."

    ²⁹Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. ³⁰Then the angel told Mary, "Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, ³¹and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. ³³He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end."

    ³⁴Mary asked the angel, "How can this happen? I am not married!"

    ³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. ³⁶Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. ³⁷Nothing is impossible for God!"

    ³⁸Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." And the angel left her.

   

Mary Visits Elizabeth

 ³⁹A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. ⁴⁰She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her.

   The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. ⁴²Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

   God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. ⁴³Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. ⁴⁵The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

   

Mary's Song of Praise

 ⁴⁶Mary said:

   With all my heart

   I praise the Lord,

    ⁴⁷and I am glad

   because of God my Savior.

    ⁴⁸He cares for me,

   his humble servant.

   From now on,

   all people will say

   God has blessed me.

    ⁴⁹God All-Powerful has done

   great things for me,

   and his name is holy.

    ⁵⁰He always shows mercy

   to everyone

   who worships him.

    ⁵¹The Lord has used

   his powerful arm

   to scatter those

   who are proud.

    ⁵²He drags strong rulers

   from their thrones

   and puts humble people

   in places of power.

    ⁵³God gives the hungry

   good things to eat,

   and sends the rich away

   with nothing.

    ⁵⁴He helps his servant Israel

   and is always merciful

   to his people.

    ⁵⁵The Lord made this promise

   to our ancestors,

   to Abraham and his family

   forever!

    ⁵⁶Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went back home.

   

The Birth of John the Baptist

 ⁵⁷When Elizabeth's son was born, ⁵⁸her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.

    ⁵⁹Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands. ^[f] They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰But Elizabeth said, "No! His name is John." ⁶¹The people argued, "No one in your family has ever been named John." ⁶²So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.

    ⁶³Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was amazed. ⁶⁴Right away, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.

    ⁶⁵All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. ⁶⁶Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew that the Lord was with him.

   

Zechariah Praises the Lord

 ⁶⁷The Holy Spirit came upon Zechariah, and he began to speak:

    ⁶⁸Praise the Lord,

   the God of Israel!

   He has come

   to save his people.

    ⁶⁹Our God has given us

   a mighty Savior ^[g] from the family

   of David his servant.

    ⁷⁰Long ago the Lord promised

   by the words

   of his holy prophets

    ⁷¹to save us from our enemies

   and from everyone

   who hates us.

    ⁷²God said he would be kind

   to our people

   and keep

   his sacred promise.

    ⁷³He told our ancestor Abraham

    ⁷⁴that he would rescue us

   from our enemies.

   Then we could serve him

   without fear,

    ⁷⁵by being holy and good

   as long as we live.

    ⁷⁶You, my son, will be called

   a prophet of God

   in heaven above.

   You will go ahead of the Lord

   to get everything ready

   for him.

    ⁷⁷You will tell his people

   that they can be saved

   when their sins

   are forgiven.

    ⁷⁸God's love and kindness

   will shine upon us

   like the sun that rises

   in the sky. ^{[h] 79}On us who live

   in the dark shadow

   of death

   this light will shine

   to guide us

   into a life of peace.

    ⁸⁰As John grew up, God's Spirit gave him great power. John lived in the desert until the time he was sent to the people of Israel.