1:1   Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us.

1:2   They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message.

1:3   And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you.

1:4   I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

1:5   During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family.

1:6   They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands.

1:7   They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

1:8   One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service.

1:9   According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord,

1:10   while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned.

1:11   An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned.

1:12   When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid.

1:13   But the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John.

1:14   How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born!

1:15   John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,

1:16   and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

1:17   He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

1:18   Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also."

1:19   "I am Gabriel," the angel answered. "I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news.

1:20   But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true."

1:21   In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple.

1:22   When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

1:23   When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home.

1:24   Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months.

1:25   "Now at last the Lord has helped me," she said. "He has taken away my public disgrace!"

1:26   In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth.

1:27   He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary.

1:28   The angel came to her and said, "Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!"

1:29   Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant.

1:30   The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.

1:31   You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

1:32   He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was,

1:33   and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!"

1:34   Mary said to the angel, "I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?"

1:35   The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.

1:36   Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old.

1:37   For there is nothing that God cannot do."

1:38   "I am the Lord's servant," said Mary; "may it happen to me as you have said." And the angel left her.

1:39   Soon afterward Mary got ready and hurried off to a town in the hill country of Judea.

1:40   She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth.

1:41   When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

1:42   and said in a loud voice, "You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear!

1:43   Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord's mother comes to visit me?

1:44   For as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby within me jumped with gladness.

1:45   How happy you are to believe that the Lord's message to you will come true!"

1:46   Mary said, "My heart praises the Lord;

1:47   my soul is glad because of God my Savior,

1:48   for he has remembered me, his lowly servant! From now on all people will call me happy,

1:49   because of the great things the Mighty God has done for me. His name is holy;

1:50   from one generation to another he shows mercy to those who honor him.

1:51   He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans.

1:52   He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.

1:53   He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands.

1:54   He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors, and has come to the help of his servant Israel.

1:55   He has remembered to show mercy to Abraham and to all his descendants forever!"

1:56   Mary stayed about three months with Elizabeth and then went back home.

1:57   The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.

1:58   Her neighbors and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her.

1:59   When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.

1:60   But his mother said, "No! His name is to be John."

1:61   They said to her, "But you don't have any relative with that name!"

1:62   Then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.

1:63   Zechariah asked for a writing pad and wrote, "His name is John." How surprised they all were!

1:64   At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again, and he started praising God.

1:65   The neighbors were all filled with fear, and the news about these things spread through all the hill country of Judea.

1:66   Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, "What is this child going to be?" For it was plain that the Lord's power was upon him.

1:67   John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God's message:

1:68   "Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to the help of his people and has set them free.

1:69   He has provided for us a mighty Savior, a descendant of his servant David.

1:70   He promised through his holy prophets long ago

1:71   that he would save us from our enemies, from the power of all those who hate us.

1:72   He said he would show mercy to our ancestors and remember his sacred covenant.

1:73   With a solemn oath to our ancestor Abraham he promised to rescue us from our enemies and allow us to serve him without fear,

1:74   (SEE 1:73)

1:75   so that we might be holy and righteous before him all the days of our life.

1:76   "You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him,

1:77   to tell his people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven.

1:78   Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us

1:79   and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace."

1:80   The child grew and developed in body and spirit. He lived in the desert until the day when he appeared publicly to the people of Israel.