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

as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us,

it seemed fitting for 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;

so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught [that is, the history and doctrine of the faith].

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 thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice 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 to him, I am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to bring these glad tidings to thee;

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.”

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."

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and His kingdom will have no end.

Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any 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.

Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.

And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would 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 it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of the father.

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

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

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate 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 mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

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 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 to them, Why is it that ye have sought me? did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto 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?

He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”

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 a bodily form as a dove upon him; and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight.

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

Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

And when it was day, he came out and went into a desert place: and the multitudes sought after him, and came unto him, and would have stayed him, that he should not go from them.

But he said to them, I must needs announce the glad tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for for this I have been sent forth.

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 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.

and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching 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 he having seen their faith, said to him, 'Man, thy sins have been forgiven thee.'

which is easier -- to say, Thy sins have been forgiven thee? or to say, Arise, and walk?

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician; but they that are sick.

I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].”

"Can you compel the bridal party to fast," replied Jesus, "so long as they have the bridegroom among 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 so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;

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 woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

Woe to you who have been filled -- because ye shall hunger. 'Woe to you who are laughing now -- because ye shall mourn 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:

And behave to your fellow men just as you would have them behave to you.

For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.

And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.

And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

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 [to others] and you will have [things] given to you. People will pour into your lap a full measure [of goods]; it will be pressed down, shaken together and running over [the edges]. Because the standard you use in giving [to others] will be the standard used [by them or God] in giving back to you."

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."

And they, when they came to Jesus, earnestly entreated Him, pleading, "He deserves to have this favour granted him,

And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come 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 too am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

And the messengers of John having gone away, he began to say unto the multitudes concerning John: 'What have ye gone forth to the wilderness to look on? a reed by the wind shaken?

but what have ye gone forth to see? a man in soft garments clothed? lo, they in splendid apparellings, and living in luxury, are in the houses of kings!

'But what have ye gone forth to see? a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much 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.

They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, 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.