even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning wer eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

There was in the time of Herod, the king of Judaea, a priest of the name of Zechariah, belonging to the class of Abijah. He had a wife who was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

They were both righteous people, who lived blameless lives, guiding their steps by all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

But the angel said to him: " Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, whom you shall call by the name John.

He is the one who will go before the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to prepare the people to be ready for 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;

Now the people who waited [outside] for Zacharias were very surprised that he was staying in the Temple so long.

it is the Lord, said she, who has thus favour'd me, at the time when he took care to remove the reproach I was under among men.

To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.

And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.

you shall be now pregnant, and be delivered of a son, whom you shall name JESUS.

The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

And who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?

and happy is she who did believe, for there shall be a completion to the things spoken to her from the Lord.'

"My spirit exults in the God, who is my Saviour,

For He who is mighty did to me great things, And holy is His name,

“And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him.

He has manifested His supreme strength. He has scattered those who were haughty in the thoughts of their hearts.

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.

He has filled those who are hungry with good [things], and those who are rich he has sent away empty-handed.

And they said to her, There is no one among thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.

And fear came upon all who dwelt round about them; and in the whole hill-country of Judaea all these things were the subject of conversation.

And all who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then will this child be? And the Lord's hand was with him.

"May the Lord be praised, [who is] the God of the Israelites, for He has come to [the aid of] His people and bought them back [i.e., from bondage].

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began;

deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us;

That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,

by the tender mercy of our God, who will make the Dawn visit us from on high,

to shine upon them who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.

Now there were [some] shepherds in that region who were living in the fields and guarding their flocks [of sheep] at night.

for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a large number of the heavenly "army" [i.e., of angels], who were praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

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

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, who was so named by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),

Now there was a man in Jerusalem of the name of Symeon, an upright and God-fearing man, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

which [i.e., whom] you have prepared before all people [i.e., for their benefit],

And there was a prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was far advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity,

and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.

and she coming up the same hour gave praise to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem.

And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.

This was according to what is written in the book containing the words of Isaiah, the prophet [Isa. 40:3ff], "The voice of a man who speaks out in the desert [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on].

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 John replied, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do the same.”

And those who served in the army were also asking him, saying, "What should we also do?" And he said to them, "Extort from no one, and do not blackmail [anyone], and be content with your pay."

John answered, saying to all, 'I indeed with water do baptise you, but he cometh who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to loose the latchet of his sandals -- he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with 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,

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 began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,

Who was the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Janna, who was the son of Joseph,

Who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Amos, who was the son of Naum, who was the son of Esli, who was the son of Nagge,

Who was the son of Maath, who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Semei, who was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Juda,

Who was the son of Joanna, who was the son of Rhesa, who was the son of Zorobabel, who was the son of Salathiel, who was the son of Neri,

Who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Addi, who was the son of Cosam, who was the son of Elmodam, who was the son of Er,

Who was the son of Jose, who was the son of Eliezer, who was the son of Jorim, who was the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi,

Who was the son of Simeon, who was the son of Judah, who was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Jonan, who was the son of Eliakim,

Who was the son of Melea, who was the son of Menan, who was the son of Mattatha, who was the son of Nathan, who was the son of David,

Who was the son of Jesse, who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Booz, who was the son of Salmon, who was the son of Naasson,

Who was the son of Aminadab, who was the son of Aram, who was the son of Esrom, who was the son of Phares, who was the son of Judah,

Who was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, who was the son of Terah, who was the son of Nahor,

Who was the son of Serug, who was the son of Reu, who was the son of Peleg, who was the son of Heber, who was the son of Sala,

Who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech,

Who was the son of Methuselah, who was the son of Enoch, who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Maleleel, who was the son of Cainan,

Who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

And the devil said to Him, "I will give you full authority [over them] and their splendor, for it has [all] been granted to me and to whom I want to give it.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),
Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),

And rolling up the volume, he gave it to the attendant officer, and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were attentively fixed on him.

All who were present spoke well of him, and were astonished at the beautiful words that fell from his lips. "Is not he Joseph's son?" they asked.

and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed —only Naaman the Syrian.”

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

There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice,

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.

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].

many were dispossess'd of the demons, who cried aloud, you are the Messiah, the son of God. but he rebuked them, and would not suffer them to declare, that they knew him to be the Messiah.

And they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come and help them, and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were sinking.

For astonishment had laid hold on him, and on all those who were with him, at the haul of fishes which they had taken;

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

And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

And it came to pass on one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judaea and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

And lo, men bringing upon a couch a man who was paralysed; and they sought to bring him in, and put him before him.

who perceiving their faith, said to him, O! man, your sins are forgiven you.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

But Jesus, who had knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," he said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, 'Get up and pick up your stretcher [and] go to your home.'"

And Levi made a great entertainment for him in his house, and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and others who were at table with them.

And Jesus answering said unto them, 'They who are well have no need of a physician, but they that are ill:

I did not come to call those who are doing right to repent [i.e., to change their hearts and lives], but [only those who are] sinners."

No one who has been drinking old wine wants new wine, because he says, "The old wine is good enough!'"

And Jesus answering said to them, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did when he hungered, he and those who were with him,

how he entered into the house of God and took the shewbread and ate, and gave to those also who were with him, which it is not lawful that any eat, unless the priests alone?

Another sabbath he happened to go into the synagogue and teach. Now a man was there who had his right hand withered,

But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up, and stand in the midst. And having risen up he stood there.

And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,