Luke 1-2

Amplified Bible

Introduction

1 Since [as is well known] many have undertaken to compile an orderly account of the things which have been fulfilled among us [by God], ² exactly as they were handed down to us by those [with personal experience] who from the beginning [of Christ’s ministry] were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word [that is, of the teaching concerning salvation through faith in Christ], ³ it seemed fitting for ^[a]me as well, [and so I have decided] after having carefully searched out and investigated all the events accurately, from the very beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus;^{(A) 4} so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been ^[b]taught [that is, the history and doctrine of the faith].

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the days of Herod [the Great], king of Judea, there was a certain priest whose name was ^[c]Zacharias, of ^[d]the division of Abijah. His wife was ^[e]a descendant of Aaron [the first high priest of Israel], and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They both were righteous (approved) in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷ But they were childless, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both far advanced in years.

⁸ Now it happened while Zacharias was serving as priest before God in the appointed order of his priestly division, ⁹ as was the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter [the sanctuary of] the temple of the Lord and ^[f]burn incense [on the altar of incense].^{(B) 10} And all the congregation was praying outside [in the court of the temple] at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zacharias saw the angel, he was troubled and overcome with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, because your petition [in prayer] was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him ^[g]John. ¹⁴ You will have great joy and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.^{(C) 16} He will turn many of the sons of Israel back [from sin] to [love and serve] the Lord their God. ¹⁷ It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”^(D)

¹⁸ And Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age.” ¹⁹ The angel replied and said to him, “I am Gabriel; I stand and minister in the [very] presence of God, and I have been sent [by Him] to speak to you and to bring you this good news.^{(E) 20 [h]}Listen carefully, you will be continually silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe what I told you; but my words will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

²¹ The people [outside in the court] were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering about his long delay in the temple. ²² But when he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. ²³ When his time of priestly service was finished, he returned to his home.

²⁴ Now after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months she secluded herself completely, saying, ²⁵ “This is how the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor on me, to take away my ^[i]disgrace among men.”^(F)

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin ^[j]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ Listen carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”^{(G) 34} Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any man?” ³⁵ Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.^{(H) 36} And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.” ³⁸ Then Mary said, “^[k]Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and hurried to the hill country, to a city of Judah (Judea), ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him. ⁴² And she exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [worthy to be praised] are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.”

The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

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

John Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ It happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child [as required by the Law], and they intended to name him Zacharias, after his father;^{(K) 60} but his mother answered, “No indeed; instead he will be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.” ⁶² Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ At once Zacharias’ mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking, praising and blessing and thanking God. ⁶⁵ Then fear came on all their neighbors; and all these things were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard these things kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this little boy turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him [to bring about his birth].

Zacharias’ Prophecy

⁶⁷ Now Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him, and he prophesied, saying,

⁸⁰ 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 [as John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah].

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from [the emperor] ^[m]Caesar Augustus, that all the inhabited world (the Roman Empire) should be ^[n]registered [in a census]. ² This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone went to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register with Mary, who was ^[o]betrothed to him, and was with child.^{(P) 6} While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth, ⁷ and she gave birth to her Son, her firstborn; and she wrapped Him in [^[p]swaddling] cloths and laid Him in a ^[q]manger, because there was no [private] room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for ^[r]all the people. ¹¹ For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah).^{(Q) 12} And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find a Baby wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.”^{(R) 13} Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host (angelic army) praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the Baby as He lay in the manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen this, they made known what had been told them about this Child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these things, giving careful thought to them and pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²¹ At the end of eight days, when He was to be circumcised, He was named Jesus, the name given [to Him] by the angel [Gabriel] before He was conceived in the womb.

²² And when the time for their purification came [that is, the mother’s purification and the baby’s dedication] according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord [set apart as the Firstborn]^{(S) 23} (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy [set apart and dedicated] to the Lord)”^{(T) 24} and [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord [to be appropriate for a family of modest means], “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”^(U)

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout [carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the ^[s]Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). ²⁷ Prompted by the Spirit, he came into the temple [enclosure]; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, ^[t]to do for Him the custom required by the Law, ²⁸ Simeon took Him into his arms, and blessed and praised and thanked God, and said,

³³ And His [legal] father and His mother were amazed at what was said about Him. ³⁴ Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Listen carefully: this Child is appointed and destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for ^[u]a sign that is to be opposed—^{(X) 35} and a sword [of deep sorrow] will pierce through your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,^{(Y) 37} and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the [area of the] temple, but was serving and worshiping night and day with fastings and prayers. ³⁸ She, too, came up at that very moment and began praising and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.

Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when they had done everything [in connection with Jesus’ birth] according to the Law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the Child continued to grow and become strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor, spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.^(Z)

Visit to Jerusalem

⁴¹ Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover Feast.^{(AA) 42} And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the Feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning [to ^[v]Nazareth], after spending the required number of days [at the Feast], the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. Now His parents did not know this, ⁴⁴ but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and traveled a day’s journey; and [then] they began searching [anxiously] for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for Him [everywhere]. ⁴⁶ Three days later they found Him in the [court of the] temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ All who heard Him were amazed by His intelligence and His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When they saw Him, they were overwhelmed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Listen, Your ^[w]father and I have been [greatly distressed and] anxiously looking for You.” ⁴⁹ And He answered, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be ^[x]in My Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what He had said to them. ⁵¹ He went down to Nazareth with them, and was continually submissive and obedient to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.^(AB)