Luke's Orderly Account

The Gospel of the great Physician, full of compassion for the poor, the outcast, and the lost. It holds the parable of the prodigal son and the tenderest portraits of Jesus’ mercy.

Chapter 1.

Since many have undertaken to compile an ordered account of what has been accomplished among us. Just as eyewitnesses from the beginning and servants of the word handed these accounts to us, I too, having traced everything accurately from the start, decided to write it in order for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

The Father Promises a Son to Zechariah

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, a priest named Zechariah was in Abijah's priestly division. His wife Elizabeth descended from Aaron. ^a They were both righteous before our Father, walking blamelessly in all his commandments and ordinances. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were very old.

Now while he was serving as priest before our Father when his division was on duty, by priestly custom, lot chose him to enter his sanctuary and burn incense. And the whole crowd of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ^b

Then an angel of our Father appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was shaken when he saw him, and fear came over him. The angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah — your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; name him John. You will have joy and gladness; many will rejoice at his birth." He will be great before our Father, must never drink wine or other alcoholic drinks, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel back to their Father. He will go before our Father in Elijah's spirit and power, turning fathers' hearts to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare a people ready for our Father.

Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know this? I'm old, and my wife is well along in years."

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in our Father's presence, sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. And now you will be silent, unable to speak, until the day these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will come true in their time."

Meanwhile the people waited for Zechariah, wondering why he stayed so long in the sanctuary. When he came out, he could not speak to them, and they knew he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and stayed mute. And when his days of service were ended, he went home. After these days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, "This is what our Father did for me, in the days he looked on me, to remove my disgrace among people."

The Father Sends Gabriel to Mary

In month six our Father sent the angel Gabriel to a Galilee town called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! Our Father is with you."

But she was greatly troubled by his words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with our Father. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and called Son of the Most High, and our Father will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's house forever; his kingdom will never end."

And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the Most High's power will shadow you; so the holy child born will be called the Son of our Father. Look, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age—this is the sixth month for her called barren. For nothing will be impossible with our Father."

Mary said, "I am the servant of our Father; let it happen to me as you said." Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

In those days Mary got up and hurried to the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She cried out with a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women, blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For the moment I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what our Father spoke to her."

Mary's Song of Praise

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies our Father, and my spirit rejoices in our Father, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the humble; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

John Is Born

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard our Father had shown her great mercy, and rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John."

And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, asking what Zechariah wanted the child to be called.

He asked for a tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And everyone was amazed. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing our Father. Fear fell on all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout Judea's hill country. And all who heard kept these things in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child become?" For our Father's hand was with him.

Zechariah Prophesies

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be our Father of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a mighty Savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets long ago, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us, that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our Father, by which the sunrise from on high will visit us, ^c to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

The child grew, became strong in spirit, and lived in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

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Luke 1