¹Inasmuch as many undertook to draw up a narration concerning the things accomplished among us,

²even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,

³it seemed good also to me, having been acquainted from the first with all things carefully and with method, to write to you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴so that you may know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

⁵There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶Now they were both righteous in front of God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.

⁷And there was no child to them, inasmuch as Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their years.

⁸Now it came to pass in his priestly serving in the order of his division before God,

⁹according to the custom of the priesthood the lot picked him as the one to burn incense, entering into the temple of the Lord;

¹⁰and all the multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense.

¹¹Then a messenger of the Lord appeared to him, already standing at the right of the altar of the incense;

¹²and Zechariah was troubled, having seen him, and fear fell upon him.

¹³Then the messenger said to him: Fear not, Zechariah; because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you will call his name John.

¹⁴And he will be joy to you and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

¹⁵For he will be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he shall certainly not drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb of his mother.

¹⁶And many of the sons of Israel he will turn to the Lord their God,

¹⁷and he himself will go forth 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 make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the messenger: By what will I know this? for I myself am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her years.

¹⁹And answering, the messenger said to him: I am Gabriel, the one standing before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you these glad tidings.

²⁰And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these things may happen, in return for that you did not trust in my words, which will be fulfilled in their season.

²¹And the people were expecting Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delaying in the temple.

²²Then when he had come out he was not able to speak to them; and they recognized that he has seen a vision in the temple. And he himself was making signs to them and was remaining mute.

²³And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his home.

²⁴Then after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and was hiding herself five months, saying

²⁵that thus the Lord has done to me in the days in which He looked upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.

²⁶Now in the sixth month the messenger Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee whose name was Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary.

²⁸And when the messenger had come, he said to her: Greetings, you graciously favored! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you yourself among women.

²⁹And when she had seen him, she was troubled at the statement, and was pondering what kind this salutation would be.

³⁰And the messenger said to her: Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹And behold, you will conceive in womb and will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus.

³²He will be great, and He will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David his father,

³³and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will not be an end!

³⁴Then Mary said to the messenger: How will this be, since I know not a man?

³⁵And answering, the messenger said to her: the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the Holy One being born will be called the Son of God.

³⁶And behold, Elizabeth your relative also, she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;

³⁷for no word from God will be impossible.

³⁸Then Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; would that it happen to me according to your word. And the messenger departed from her.

³⁹Then Mary, when she had risen up in these days, went into the hill country with haste, to a town of Judah,

⁴⁰and she entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit;

⁴²and she cried out in a loud shout and said: Blessed are you yourself among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

⁴³And from where is this to me, that the mother of my Lord may come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, as the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in exultation in my womb.

⁴⁵And blessed is the one who believed that there will be a fulfillment to the things spoken to her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said: my being magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸for He has looked upon the humiliation of his handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth all the generations will count me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done great things to me; and holy is his name;

⁵⁰and his compassion is to generations and generations to those fearing Him.

⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the thought of their heart;

⁵²He has brought down rulers from thrones and lifted up the humble;

⁵³those hungering He has filled with good things, and those being rich He has sent away empty;

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant, remembering compassion,

⁵⁵even as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants, forever.

⁵⁶Then Mary dwelt with her about three months, and returned to her home.

⁵⁷Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

⁵⁸And the neighbours and her relatives heard that the Lord magnified his compassion with her, and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹And it came to pass on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and were calling it after the name of his father Zechariah.

⁶⁰And answering, his mother said: No, but he will be called John.

⁶¹And they said to her that No one among your relatives is called by this name.

⁶²Then they were making signs to his father, what he would wish him to be called.

⁶³And when he had asked for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all marveled.

⁶⁴Then his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he was speaking, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came upon all those dwelling around them; and in all the hill country of Judea all these declarations were being talked about,

⁶⁶and all those who heard laid them up in their heart, saying: What then will this child be? And for the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷And Zechariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying:

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, because He has visited and He has performed redemption on his people,

⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant,

⁷⁰even as He spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of the old age;

⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those hating us,

⁷²to fulfill compassion toward our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath that He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us

⁷⁴without fear, having been saved from the hand of our enemies, to serve Him

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

⁷⁶And you yourself now, child, will be called prophet of the Most High; for you will go in front of the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people in forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸through the affections of compassion of our God, in which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

⁷⁹to shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of wholeness.

⁸⁰And the child was continuing to grow, and he was strengthened in spirit, and he was in the deserted places until the day of his appearance to Israel.