Since [as is well known] many have undertaken to compile an orderly account of the things which have been fulfilled among us [by God],

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;

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

Now it happened while Zacharias was serving as priest before God in the appointed order of his priestly division,

And all the congregation was praying outside [in the court of the temple] at the hour of the incense offering.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, because your petition [in prayer] was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

You will have great joy and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth,

for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.

He will turn many of the sons of Israel back [from sin] to [love and serve] the Lord their God.

It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age.”

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.”

And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

Listen carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.

And she exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [worthy to be praised] are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

“For He has looked [with loving care] on the humble state of His maidservant;
For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God!

And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.

Then fear came on all their neighbors; and all these things were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.

All who heard these things kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this little boy turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him [to bring about his birth].

Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;

To show mercy [as He promised] to our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant [the promised blessing],

In holiness [being set apart] and righteousness [being upright] before Him all our days.

Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise (the Messiah) from on high will dawn and visit us,

Now in those days a decree went out from [the emperor] Caesar Augustus, that all the inhabited world (the Roman Empire) should be registered [in a census].

And everyone went to register for the census, each to his own city.

While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth,

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find a Baby wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.”

“Glory to God in the highest [heaven],
And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”

and all who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these things, giving careful thought to them and pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

and a sword [of deep sorrow] will pierce through your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

She, too, came up at that very moment and began praising and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.

When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for Him [everywhere].

All who heard Him were amazed by His intelligence and His understanding and His answers.

He went down to Nazareth with them, and was continually submissive and obedient to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin;

and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’”

John answered them all by saying, “As for me, I baptize you [only] with water; but One who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I is coming, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals [even as His slave]. He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire.

His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom); but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”

But when Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch was repeatedly reprimanded [and convicted by John’s disapproval] for having Herodias, his brother’s wife [as his own], and for all the wicked things that Herod had done,

he also added this to them all: he locked up John in prison.

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, the [visible] heaven was opened,

and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are My Son, My Beloved, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”

Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye.

And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours.”

for it is written and forever remains written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’

and,

‘they will lift You up on their hands,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region.

And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.

Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him.

He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”

And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’”

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage;

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!”

While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah].

Now it happened that while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God;

Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night [to the point of exhaustion] and caught nothing [in our nets], but at Your word I will [do as you say and] lower the nets [again].”

For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken;

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!”

While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man covered with [an advanced case of] leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean and well.”

They were all astonished, and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with [reverential] fear and kept saying, “We have seen wonderful and incredible things today!”

But days [for mourning] will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them. They will fast in those days.”

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

One Sabbath while Jesus was passing through fields of standing grain, it happened that His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

But He was aware of their thoughts, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward.” So he got up and stood there.

After looking around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did, and his hand was [fully] restored.

Now at this time Jesus went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,

All the people were trying to touch Him, because [healing] power was coming from Him and healing them all.

Woe to you who are well-fed (gorged, satiated) now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now [enjoying a life of self-indulgence], for you will mourn and weep [and deeply long for God].

“But I say to you who hear [Me and pay attention to My words]: Love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, [make it a practice to] do good to those who hate you,

Whoever strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one also [simply ignore insignificant insults or losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity]. Whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.

“Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change].

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man guide [another] blind man? Will they not both fall into a hole in the ground?

A student is not superior to his teacher; but everyone, after he has been completely trained, will be like his teacher.

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite (play actor, pretender), first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and obeys them, I will show you whom he is like:

After He had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.

Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed.

Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”

When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!”

This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.

John’s disciples brought word to him [in prison] of all these things.

All the people and the tax collectors who heard Jesus, acknowledged [the validity of] God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John.