Luke 1:1-38

Living Bible

1 ^1-2 Dear friend who loves God:^[a]

Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. ³ However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you,^{[b] 4} to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

⁵ My story begins with a Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps. (His wife, Elizabeth, was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the Jews, a descendant of Aaron.) ⁶ Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk, careful to obey all of God’s laws in spirit as well as in letter. ⁷ But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old.

^8-9 One day as Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple—for his division was on duty that week—the honor fell to him by lot^[c] to enter the inner sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord. ¹⁰ Meanwhile, a great crowd stood outside in the Temple court, praying as they always did during that part of the service when the incense was being burned.

^11-12 Zacharias was in the sanctuary when suddenly an angel appeared, standing to the right of the altar of incense! Zacharias was startled and terrified.

¹³ But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. ¹⁴ You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. ¹⁵ For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! ¹⁶ And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. ¹⁷ He will be a man of rugged^[d] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.”

¹⁸ Zacharias said to the angel, “But this is impossible! I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

¹⁹ Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to you with this good news! ²⁰ And now, because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent, unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time.”

²¹ Meanwhile the crowds outside were waiting for Zacharias to appear and wondered why he was taking so long. ²² When he finally came out, he couldn’t speak to them, and they realized from his gestures that he must have seen a vision in the Temple. ²³ He stayed on at the Temple for the remaining days of his Temple duties and then returned home. ²⁴ Soon afterwards Elizabeth his wife became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.

²⁵ “How kind the Lord is,” she exclaimed, “to take away my disgrace of having no children!”

²⁶ The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you!”^[e]

²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

³⁰ “Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! ³¹ Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him ‘Jesus.’ ³² He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God. And the Lord God shall give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ And he shall reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom shall never end!”

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of God shall overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy—the Son of God. ³⁶ Furthermore, six months ago your Aunt^[f] Elizabeth—‘the barren one,’ they called her—became pregnant in her old age! ³⁷ For every promise from God shall surely come true.”

³⁸ Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you said come true.” And then the angel disappeared.