As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,

exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,

And, therefore, I also, since I have investigated all these events with great care from their very beginning, have resolved to write a connected history of them for you,

So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.

And {they did not have} a child, because Elizabeth was barren. And they were both advanced {in years}.

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 you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will not drink any wine or intoxicating drinks [Note: This restriction suggests that John may have taken the special vow of consecration making him a "Nazarite"]. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born.

And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.

And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.

Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

When, however, he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they knew that he must have seen a vision in the Sanctuary; but he kept making signs to them and continued dumb.

Now after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months she secluded herself completely, saying,

"This is what the Lord has done for me," she said, "now that he has deigned to take away the reproach under which I have been living."

Gabriel came into her presence and said: "Hail, you who have been highly favored! The Lord is with you."

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 may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?

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.

"I am the servant of the Lord," exclaimed Mary; "let it be with me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

But how have I this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

And blessed is'she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.

He shows mercy to generation after generation of people who have reverence for Him.

With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.

as he promised our fathers, to have mercy on Abraham and his offspring for ever."

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son.

And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name;

"You have no relation of that name!" they exclaimed;

And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called.

(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),

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

since we have been rescued
from our enemies’ clutches,
to serve Him without fear

to have himself registered together with Mary, who was betrothed to him and was with child.

While they were there, the time came for her to have her baby,

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

To-day you have a saviour born in the town of David, the Lord messiah.

And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.

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

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

Which you have made ready before the face of all nations;

But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

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 is it that ye have been seeking me? Did ye not know that I must be about my Fathers business?

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.

And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.

And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

And he answered [and] said to them, "The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have [one], and the one who has food must do likewise."

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

"Do not collect more than you have authority to demand," John answered.

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.

and the holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thy father."

Jesus answered, "We have been told, 'You shall not try the Lord your God.' "

And he began to say to them: This scripture which you have heard, is this day fulfilled.

And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country.

Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.

And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.

But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.

Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret;

And Simon answered and said unto Him, Master, we have been toiling all the night, and have caught nothing; however at thy word I will cast the net.

And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.

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].”

And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your sins.

Which is the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up and go?

And they were all amazed and glorified God, and were filled with awe, saying, we have seen wonderful things to-day.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I am not come to call the righteous,

I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins.

to which he answered, would you have the bridemen fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

But days will come when also the bridegroom will have been taken away from them; then shall they fast in those days.

And he also told a parable to them: "No one tears a patch from a new garment [and] puts [it] on an old garment. Otherwise, he will have torn the new also, and the old will not match the patch [that is] from the new.

And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read what David did, when he himself was hungry and those that were with him? how he went into the house of God,

now the Scribes and Pharisees were upon the watch to see if he would work a cure upon the sabbath-day, and so have matter of accusation against him.

At length he came down the hill with them, and stayed with the rest of his disciples in the plain, where a great multitude of people from all Judea, from Jerusalem, and the maritime country of Tyre and Sidon, came to hear him, and to have their diseases cured.

Then He looked at His disciples and said, "Those of you who have a [sense of personal] need are blessed, because the kingdom of God belongs to you.

Those of you who now have an appetite [i.e., for doing what is right] are blessed, because you will be satisfied [eventually]. Those of you who cry now [i.e., over your sins] are blessed, because you will laugh [i.e., when you are forgiven later].

Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.

But wo unto you that are rich; for ye have received your consolation.

Woe to you who have your fill to-day! you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh to-day! you will wail and weep.

"Alas for you when men shall all have spoken well of you; for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the false Prophets!

But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you,

to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and let him that taketh away thy cloke, have thy coat too rather than strive with him:

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them.

And if ye do good to them who do good to you, what thanks have ye? do not even sinners the same thing?

And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave.

But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts.

give, and you will have ample measure given you ??they will pour into your lap measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over; for the measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to yourselves."

But those who have listened and not acted upon what they have heard may be compared to a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The river swept down upon it, and the house immediately collapsed; and great was the crash that followed."

When they reached Jesus they asked him earnestly to do this. "He deserves to have this favour from you," they said,

So Jesus went with them. But he was not far from the house when the captain sent some friends to tell him, "Do not trouble yourself, sir, I am not fit to have you under my roof,

That is why I did not think I was fit to come to you. But simply say the word, and have my servant cured.

For I also am a man placed under the authority of others, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doth it.

And when Jesus heard these things, He marvelled, and turning about, said to the multitude that followed Him, I declare unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.

And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them,

And when the messengers of John had departed, he began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What have ye gone out into the wilderness to see? the reeds shaken by the wind?

But what did you go out to see? a man in soft clothing? See now, those who have beautiful clothing and delicate food are in kings' houses.

But what have ye gone out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

But the Pharisees and expounders of the Law have frustrated God's purpose as to their own lives, by refusing to be baptized.

and to what are they like? they are like children sitting in the market-place, and calling to one another, and saying, "We have played pleasant tunes to you, and ye have not danced; we have sung mournful ones and ye have not wept:"

Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.