Seeing, indeed, that, many, had taken in hand to re-arrange for themselves a narrative, concerning the facts which have been fully confirmed amongst us, -

It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus;

so that you may know for certain the things you were taught.

And they had no child, for Elisabeth was barren; and they were both far advanced in years.

There was a whole crowd of people praying outside because it was the time for burning the incense offering.

But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.

And there will be joy and exultation for thee, and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.

And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."

And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.

Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time."

And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.

And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for he beckoned to them, and remained speechless.

After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men's eyes for five months, saying,

The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.

And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval.

He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel. "How can this be? For I have no husband?"

The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

And behold, your relative Elizabeth--she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.

For there is nothing which God is not able to do.

In those days Mary started with haste for the hill-country, for a town of Judah;

And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped for joy in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.

And blessed is she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from the Lord.

for He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaid:

For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.

For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.

His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.

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 spoke to our fathers,) to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.

Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.

And they dwelling near and her kinsmen heard, for the Lord magnified his mercy with her; and they rejoiced with her.

And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.

Just then his mouth was capable of uttering speech, and his tongue could form words, and he praised God.

And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,

Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;

And to perform the oath, which he sware to our father Abraham, for to give us.

in holiness and righteousness before him for as long as we live.

And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,

And to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, for the remission of sins:

And the child grew and became strong in character, and lived in the Desert till the time came for him to appear publicly to Israel.

Now it came to pass, in those days, that there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, for all the inhabited earth to be enrolled:

And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (for he was of the house and family of David,).

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:

For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger."

"Glory to God in high heaven, and peace on earth for men whom he favours!"

So they made haste and discovered Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the stall for cattle.

and as for Mary, she treasured it all up and mused upon it.

Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.

And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord

And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus so that they could do for him according to what was customary under the law,

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

whom thou hast provided for all mankind, a light to lighten the Gentiles,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people Israel."

And Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed--

There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death.

She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.

And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

When the days of the festival were over, they left for home. The young man Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day's journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,

And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.

And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father's house?

And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.

as it is written in the sermon-book of the prophet Isaiah: "Here is a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord, make the paths straight for Him.

So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.

Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?

And he said to them, Collect not one thing more than from what has been appointed for you.

And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

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.

whose winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Then Herod the Tetrarch; when he was rebuked of him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done;

Now it came to pass, during the immersion of all the people, Jesus also having been immersed and praying, for the heaven to be opened,

The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus himself was about thirty years of age when he began, and he was taken for the son of Joseph: which Joseph was the son of Heli:

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and for forty days He was led about in the desert under the Spirit's guidance,

For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.

And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.

Jesus answered him, and said, "Hence from me, Satan. For it is written, 'Thou shalt honour the Lord thy God, and him only serve.'"

And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,

for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'

and they shall bear you up in their hands, for fear your foot should hit against a stone."

And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.

for he preach'd in their synagogues with universal applause.

And he came to Nazareth where he was nursed, and as his custom was, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath days, and stood up for to read.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and

Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;

And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.