Luke 1
New American Standard Bible 1995
Introduction
1 Inasmuch as 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 for me as well, (F)having [e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you (G)in consecutive order, (H)most excellent (I)Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been [f](J)taught.
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 (K)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named [g]Zacharias, 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 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, 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 And (R)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias 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, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (U)you will [l]give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at 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 yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will (W)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 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 the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to (AA)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For (AB)I am an old man and my wife is advanced in [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 have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall 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 in their proper time.”
21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, 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 (AE)kept [p]making signs to them, and remained mute. 23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she [q]kept herself 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 men.”
Jesus’ Birth Foretold
26 Now in the sixth month the angel (AG)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called (AH)Nazareth, 27 to (AI)a virgin [r]engaged 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, [u]favored one! The Lord [v]is with you.” 29 But she (AK)was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 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 bear 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 Mary said to the angel, “How [w]can this be, since I [x]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; and for that reason (AT)the [y]holy Child shall be called (AU)the Son of God. 36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and [z]she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For [aa](AV)nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the [ab]bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 Now [ac]at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to (AW)the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias 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 [ad]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 [ae]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her [af]by the Lord.”
The Magnificat
46 And Mary said:
“(BA)My soul [ag](BB)exalts the Lord,
47 And (BC)my spirit has rejoiced in (BD)God my Savior.
48 “For (BE)He has had regard for the humble state of His [ah]bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me (BF)blessed.
49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
50 “(BG)And His mercy is [ai]upon generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
51 “(BH)He has done [aj]mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the [ak]thoughts of their heart.
52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has (BI)exalted those who were humble.
53 “(BJ)He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
54 “He has given help to Israel His servant,
[al]In remembrance of His mercy,
55 (BK)As He spoke to our fathers,
(BL)To Abraham and his [am]descendants forever.”
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.
John Is Born
57 Now the time [an]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 [ao](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 Zacharias, [ap]after his father. 60 But his mother answered 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 that name.” 62 And they (BP)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “(BQ)His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64 (BR)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all (BS)the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For (BT)the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.
Zacharias’s Prophecy
67 And his father Zacharias (BU)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and (BV)prophesied, saying:
68 “(BW)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished (BX)redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a (BY)horn of salvation for us
In the house of David (BZ)His servant—
70 (CA)As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets (CB)from of old—
71 [aq](CC)Salvation (CD)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 (CE)To show mercy toward our fathers,
(CF)And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (CG)The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 (CH)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 “And you, child, will be called the (CI)prophet of (CJ)the Most High;
For you will go on (CK)before the Lord to (CL)prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
[ar]By (CM)the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which (CN)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 (CO)To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the (CP)way of peace.”
80 (CQ)And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Footnotes
- Luke 1:1 Or on which there is full conviction
- Luke 1:2 Lit became
- Luke 1:2 Or ministers
- Luke 1:2 I.e. gospel
- Luke 1:3 Or followed
- Luke 1:4 Or orally instructed in
- Luke 1:5 I.e. Zechariah
- Luke 1:5 Gr Abia
- Luke 1:5 I.e. of priestly descent
- Luke 1:7 Lit days
- Luke 1:12 Or fell upon
- Luke 1:13 Lit call his name
- Luke 1:15 Lit from
- Luke 1:18 Lit days
- Luke 1:19 Lit stand beside
- Luke 1:22 Or beckoning to or nodding to
- Luke 1:24 Lit was hidden
- Luke 1:27 Or betrothed; i.e. the first stage of marriage in Jewish culture, usually lasting for a year before the wedding night. More legal than engagement
- Luke 1:27 Lit house
- Luke 1:27 Gr Mariam; i.e. Heb Miriam; so throughout Luke
- Luke 1:28 Or woman richly blessed
- Luke 1:28 Or be
- Luke 1:34 Lit will
- Luke 1:34 Lit know no man
- Luke 1:35 Lit the holy thing begotten
- Luke 1:36 Lit this is the sixth month to her who
- Luke 1:37 Lit not any word
- Luke 1:38 I.e. female slave
- Luke 1:39 Lit in these days
- Luke 1:43 Lit from where this to me
- Luke 1:45 Or believed, because there will be
- Luke 1:45 Lit from
- Luke 1:46 Lit makes great
- Luke 1:48 I.e. female slave
- Luke 1:50 Lit unto generations and generations
- Luke 1:51 Lit might
- Luke 1:51 Lit thought, attitude
- Luke 1:54 Lit So as to remember
- Luke 1:55 Lit seed
- Luke 1:57 Lit was fulfilled
- Luke 1:58 Lit magnified
- Luke 1:59 Lit after the name of
- Luke 1:71 Or Deliverance
- Luke 1:77 Or Consisting in
Luke 1
Young's Literal Translation
1 Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured among us,
2 as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, --
3 it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus,
4 that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed.
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;
6 and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless,
7 and they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days.
8 And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,
10 and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
11 And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume,
12 and Zacharias, having seen, was troubled, and fear fell on him;
13 and the messenger said unto him, `Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John,
14 and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy,
15 for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother's womb;
16 and many of the sons of Israel he shall turn to the Lord their God,
17 and he shall go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn hearts of fathers unto children, and disobedient ones to the wisdom of righteous ones, to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared.'
18 And Zacharias said unto the messenger, `Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?'
19 And the messenger answering said to him, `I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee,
20 and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.'
21 And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,
22 and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb.
23 And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house,
24 and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying --
25 `Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon [me], to take away my reproach among men.'
26 And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth,
27 to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary.
28 And the messenger having come in unto her, said, `Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;'
29 and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be.
30 And the messenger said to her, `Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;
31 and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus;
32 he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father,
33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.'
34 And Mary said unto the messenger, `How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?'
35 And the messenger answering said to her, `The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;
36 and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;
37 because nothing shall be impossible with God.'
38 And Mary said, `Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,' and the messenger went away from her.
39 And Mary having arisen in those days, went to the hill-country, with haste, to a city of Judea,
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 did leap in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
42 and spake out with a loud voice, 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 might come unto me?
44 for, lo, when the voice of thy salutation came to my ears, leap in gladness did the babe in my womb;
45 and happy [is] she who did believe, for there shall be a completion to the things spoken to her from the Lord.'
46 And Mary said, `My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47 And my spirit was glad on God my Saviour,
48 Because He looked on the lowliness of His maid-servant, For, lo, henceforth call me happy shall all the generations,
49 For He who is mighty did to me great things, And holy [is] His name,
50 And His kindness [is] to generations of generations, To those fearing Him,
51 He did powerfully with His arm, He scattered abroad the proud in the thought of their heart,
52 He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly,
53 The hungry He did fill with good, And the rich He sent away empty,
54 He received again Israel His servant, To remember kindness,
55 As He spake unto our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed -- to the age.'
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and turned back to her house.
57 And to Elisabeth was the time fulfilled for her bringing forth, and she bare a son,
58 and the neighbours and her kindred heard that the Lord was making His kindness great with her, and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it came to pass, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias,
60 and his mother answering said, `No, but he shall be called John.'
61 And they said unto her -- `There is none among thy kindred who is called by this name,'
62 and they were making signs to his father, what he would wish him to be called,
63 and having asked for a tablet, he wrote, saying, `John is his name;' and they did all wonder;
64 and his mouth was opened presently, and his tongue, and he was speaking, praising God.
65 And fear came upon all those dwelling around them, and in all the hill-country of Judea were all these sayings spoken of,
66 and all who heard did lay them up in their hearts, saying, `What then shall this child be?' and the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and did prophesy, saying,
68 `Blessed [is] the Lord, the God of Israel, Because He did look upon, And wrought redemption for His people,
69 And did raise an horn of salvation to us, In the house of David His servant,
70 As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, Which have been from the age;
71 Salvation from our enemies, And out of the hand of all hating us,
72 To do kindness with our fathers, And to be mindful of His holy covenant,
73 An oath that He sware to Abraham our father,
74 To give to us, without fear, Out of the hand of our enemies having been delivered,
75 To serve Him, in holiness and righteousness Before Him, all the days of our life.
76 And thou, child, Prophet of the Highest Shalt thou be called; For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, To prepare His ways.
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people In remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercies of our God, In which the rising from on high did look upon us,
79 To give light to those sitting in darkness and death-shade, To guide our feet to a way of peace.'
80 And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit, and he was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
