Introduction

1 Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things ^[a](A)accomplished among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who ^(B)from the beginning ^[b]were ^(C)eyewitnesses and ^[c](D)servants of ^(E)the ^[d]word, ³ it seemed fitting to me as well, ^(F)having ^[e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you ^(G)in an orderly sequence, ^(H)most excellent ^(I)Theophilus; ⁴ so that you may know the exact truth about the ^[f]things you have been ^[g](J)taught.

John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold

^5 (K)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the ^(L)division of ^[h]Abijah; and he had a wife ^[i]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They were both ^(M)righteous in the sight of God, walking ^(N)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷ And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in ^[j]years.

⁸ Now it happened that while ^(O)he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot ^(P)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer ^(Q)outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ Now ^(R)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^(S)fear ^[k]gripped him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “^(T)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(U)you shall ^[l]name him John. ¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will ^(V)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ^[m]while still in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will ^(W)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And it is he who will ^(X)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of ^(Y)Elijah, ^(Z)to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^(AA)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^(AB)I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her ^[n]years.” ¹⁹ The angel answered and said to him, “I am ^(AC)Gabriel, who ^[o](AD)stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

²¹ And meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he repeatedly ^(AE)[p]made signs to them, and remained speechless. ²³ When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home.

²⁴ Now after these days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself ^[q]in seclusion for five months, saying, ²⁵ “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to ^(AF)take away my disgrace among people.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(AG)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named ^(AH)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(AI)a virgin ^[r]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(AJ)of the ^[s]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[t]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord ^[u]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(AK)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(AL)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you ^(AM)shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AN)the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^(AO)the throne of His father David; ^33 (AP)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(AQ)and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[v]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(AR)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(AS)the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also ^(AT)the ^[w]holy Child will be called ^(AU)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and ^[x]she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For ^(AV)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[y]at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to ^(AW)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(AX)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[z]how has it happened to me that the mother of ^(AY)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(AZ)blessed is she who ^[aa]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[ab]by the Lord.”

Mary’s Song: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time ^[aj]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[ak](BM)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(BN)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[al]after his father. ⁶⁰ And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(BO)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² And they ^[am](BP)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[an]as follows, “^(BQ)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ^64 (BR)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in ^(BS)the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed ^(BT)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(BU)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(BV)prophesied, saying:

^80 (CQ)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and the Word was ^(C)with God, and ^(D)the Word was God. ^2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him ^[b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ^4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was ^(G)the Light of mankind. ⁵ And ^(H)the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[c]grasp it.

The Witness John the Baptist

⁶ A man ^[d]came, one sent from God, and his name was ^(I)John. ^7 [e]He came ^[f](J)as a witness, to testify about the Light, ^(K)so that all might believe through him. ^8 [g](L)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

^9 [h]This was ^(M)the true Light ^[i]that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and ^(N)the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not ^[j]know Him. ¹¹ He came to His ^[k]own, and His own people did not ^[l]accept Him. ¹² But ^[m]as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^(O)children of God, ^(P)to those who ^[n]believe in His name, ^13 (Q)who were ^[o]born, not of ^[p]blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And ^(R)the Word ^(S)became flesh, and ^(T)dwelt among us; and ^(U)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of ^(V)grace and ^(W)truth. ¹⁵ John *^(X)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^(Y)He who is coming after me has proved to be ^[q]my superior, ^(Z)because He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His ^(AA)fullness ^[r]we have all received, and ^[s]grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For ^(AB)the Law was given through Moses; ^(AC)grace and ^(AD)truth ^[t]were realized through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AE)No one has seen God at any time; ^(AF)God the only Son, who is ^(AG)in the ^[u]arms of the Father, ^(AH)He has ^[v]explained Him.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is ^(AI)the testimony of John, when ^(AJ)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(AK)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(AL)I am not the ^[w]Christ.” ²¹ And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(AM)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AN)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(AO)the voice of one calling ^[x]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[y]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(AP)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(AQ)I baptize ^[z]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(AR)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(AS)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(AT)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(AU)the Lamb of God who ^(AV)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(AW)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[aa]my superior, ^(AX)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[ab]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[ac]in water.” ³² And John ^(AY)testified, saying, “^(AZ)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[ad]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[ae]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(BA)this is the One who baptizes ^[af]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(BB)the ^[ag]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(BC)the next day John was standing ^[ah]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(BD)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “^(BE)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the ^[ai]tenth hour. ^40 (BF)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(BG)Messiah” (which translated means ^[aj]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[ak](BH)John; you shall be called ^(BI)Cephas” (which is translated ^[al](BJ)Peter).

^43 (BK)The next day He ^[am]decided to go to ^(BL)Galilee, and He *found ^(BM)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(BN)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(BO)Philip was from ^(BP)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (BQ)Philip *found ^(BR)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(BS)Moses wrote in the Law, and ^(BT)the prophets also wrote: Jesus ^(BU)the son of Joseph, from ^(BV)Nazareth!” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(BW)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” ^(BX)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an ^(BY)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(BZ)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(CA)Rabbi, You are ^(CB)the Son of God; You are the ^(CC)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(CD)heaven opened and ^(CE)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(CF)the Son of Man.”