Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

They both were righteous (approved) in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And Zachariah was troubled at the sight, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

and he shall be a joy and transport to thee, yea, many shall rejoice on account of his birth; for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

And now you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I said, though my words will be fulfilled in due course."

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,

"Thus has the Lord dealt with me," she said, "now that He has graciously taken away my reproach among men."

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the seat of his father David:

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And consider this, your relative Elizabeth is also pregnant with a son in spite of her old age, and [even though] she was said to be unable to have children, she is now six months along.

For with God, nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to thy word.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Now in those days Mary set out [and] traveled with haste into the hill country, to a town of Judah,

And it came to pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant in her womb leaped; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; and she spoke with a loud voice and said;

And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,

As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Now Mary stay'd about three months with Elizabeth, and then return'd to her own house.

And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

All who heard the story treasured it in their memories. "What then will this child be?" they said. For the lord's hand was indeed with him.

And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words:

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel," he said, "Because He has not forgotten His people but has effected redemption for them,

(As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,)

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

In that same country-side were shepherds out in the open fields, watching their flocks that night,

When suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them; and they feared with a great fear. The angel said to them.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

and having seen it they made known about the country the thing which had been said to them concerning this child.

And all who heard it wondered at the things said to them by the shepherds.

While Mary treasured up all that they said, and dwelt upon it in her thoughts.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all things which they had heard and seen, as it had been said to them.

Then when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed [Note: This was a set procedure required for a Jewish mother on the birth of a child. See Lev. 12:1-8], Joseph and Mary brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.

(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)”

And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said;

for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast provided in the sight of all people,

Which Thou hast made ready in the sight of all nations--

And his father and mother wondered at the things which were said concerning him.

And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual to the festival and made their customary stay.

And when they had kept the full number of days, and had set out to return, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew it not.

And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

And they understood not the thing that he said to them.

However he went down with them to Nazareth, and submitted himself to their control; and his mother treasured all that was said in her heart.

This was in fulfillment of what is said in the writings of the Prophet Isaiah--'The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: "Make ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.

Then said he to the multitudes,

Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

And the crowd began to ask him questions. "What shall we do then?" they asked. In reply he said to them.

And he answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath food, let him do likewise.

Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?

And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man's only need.

And the Devil led Jesus up, and showing him in a single moment all the kingdoms of the earth, said to him:

And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

and with their hands they shall stay thee up, that thou dash not thy foot against a stone.'"

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.

And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,

But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”

And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!”

And [after he] set out from the synagogue, he went into Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a high fever, and they asked him on behalf of her.

As soon as the sun was set, all sorts of diseased persons were brought before him by their friends, and he healed them all, by laying his hands upon them.

And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

Another time when he was in one of their cities, there was a man there full of leprosy. And he, upon seeing Jesus, fell on his face and implored him. "Lord," he said, "if only you choose you can make me clean."

and having stretched forth his hand, he touched him, having said, 'I will; be thou cleansed;' and immediately the leprosy went away from him.

Jesus ordered him to tell no one [that he might happen to meet], “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony (witness) to them [that this is a work of Messiah].”