Help Previous Next

NASB Bible

Luke 1

Introduction

1

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things  1 aaccomplished among us,

2

just as they were handed down to us by those who  afrom the beginning  1were  beyewitnesses and  2 cservants of  dthe  3word,

3

it seemed fitting for me as well,  ahaving  1investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you  bin consecutive order,  cmost excellent  dTheophilus;

4

so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been  1 ataught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5

 aIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named  1Zacharias, of the  bdivision of  2Abijah; and he had a wife  3from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6

They were both  arighteous in the sight of God, walking  bblamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

7

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in  1years.

8

Now it happened that while  ahe was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,

9

according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot  ato enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer  aoutside at the hour of the incense offering.

11

And  aan angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

12

Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and  afear  1gripped him.

13

But the angel said to him, " aDo not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and  byou will  1give him the name John.

14

"You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

15

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will  adrink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit  1while yet in his mother's womb.

16

"And he will  aturn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

17

"It is he who will  ago as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of  bElijah,  cTO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to  amake ready a people prepared for the Lord."

18

Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? For  aI am an old man and my wife is advanced in  1years."

19

The angel answered and said to him, "I am  aGabriel, who  1 bstands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

20

"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

21

The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.

22

But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he  akept  1making signs to them, and remained mute.

23

When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

24

After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she  1kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

25

"This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to  atake away my disgrace among men."

Jesus' Birth Foretold

26

Now in the sixth month the angel  aGabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called  bNazareth,

27

to  aa virgin  1engaged to a man whose name was Joseph,  bof the  2descendants of David; and the virgin's name was  3Mary.

28

And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings,  1favored one! The Lord  2is with you."

29

But she  awas very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

30

The angel said to her, " aDo not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

31

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you  ashall name Him Jesus.

32

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

33

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

34

Mary said to the angel, "How  1can this be, since I  2am a virgin?"

35

The angel answered and said to her, " aThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of  bthe Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason  cthe  1holy Child shall be called  dthe Son of God.

36

"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and  1she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

37

"For  1 anothing will be impossible with God."

38

And Mary said, "Behold, the  1bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39

Now  1at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to  athe hill country, to a city of Judah,

40

and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

41

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was  afilled with the Holy Spirit.

42

And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

43

"And  1how has it happened to me, that the mother of  amy Lord would come to me?

44

"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

45

"And  ablessed is she who  1believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her  2by the Lord."

The Magnificat

46

And Mary said: " aMy soul  1 bexalts the Lord,

47

And  amy spirit has rejoiced in  bGod my Savior.

48

"For  aHe has had regard for the humble state of His  1bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me  bblessed.

49

"For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.

50

aAND HIS MERCY IS  1UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.

51

aHe has done  1mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the  2thoughts of their heart.

52

"He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has  aexalted those who were humble.

53

aHE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away the rich empty-handed.

54

"He has given help to Israel His servant,  1In remembrance of His mercy,

55

 aAs He spoke to our fathers,  bTo Abraham and his  1descendants forever."

56

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

John Is Born

57

Now the time  1had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.

58

Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had  1 adisplayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

59

And it happened that on  athe eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias,  1after his father.

60

But his mother answered and said, "No indeed; but  ahe shall be called John."

61

And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name."

62

And they  amade signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.

63

And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, " aHis name is John." And they were all astonished.

64

 aAnd at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

65

Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all  athe hill country of Judea.

66

All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, "What then will this child turn out to be?" For  athe hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Zacharias's Prophecy

67

And his father Zacharias  awas filled with the Holy Spirit, and  bprophesied, saying:

68

aBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished  bredemption for His people,

69

And has raised up a  ahorn of salvation for us In the house of David  bHis servant--

70

 aAs He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets  bfrom of old--

71

 1 aSalvation  bFROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;

72

 aTo show mercy toward our fathers,  bAnd to remember His holy covenant,

73

 aThe oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74

To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,

75

 aIn holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76

"And you, child, will be called the  aprophet of  bthe Most High; For you will go on  cBEFORE THE LORD TO  dPREPARE HIS WAYS;

77

To give to His people the knowledge of salvation  1By  athe forgiveness of their sins,

78

Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which  athe Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79

 aTO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the  bway of peace."

80

 aAnd the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.



Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.
For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.lockman.org
Report corrections to contact@SpiritAndTruth.org
(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:24:11 2007)

Help Previous Next