Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 So I too, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,[1] 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.[2] 6 Both of them were upright before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were well along in years.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And at the hour of incense, the whole crowd of people was praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was shaken, and fear fell on him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.[3] 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of those who do right — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”[4]
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 When the days of his service were completed, he went back home.
24 After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived. She kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “This is what the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my disgrace among people.”
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 She was deeply troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this could be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not known a man?”
35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And see — your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 Mary said, “I am the Lord’s slave. Let it be to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
39 In those days Mary got up and hurried into the hill country, to a town of Judah. 40 She entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And fortunate is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
46 And Mary said:
“My soul praises the greatness of the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble state of his slave. From now on all generations will call me fortunate, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, 55 just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.
57 When the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. 60 But his mother spoke up and said, “No. He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives with that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child.
63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came on all who lived around them, and throughout the whole hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this took it to heart and said, “What then will this child become?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and set them free. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,[5] 70 just as he said through his holy prophets of long ago — 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy binding promise, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear 75 in holiness and right living before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the dawn from on high will visit us, 79 to shine on those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Notes
Note 1. The Greek word behind “most excellent” (kratiste) is a formal term of respect, the same one Luke later uses in Acts when addressing the Roman governors Felix and Festus. It suggests Theophilus was a person of some rank or standing, perhaps Luke’s patron. Beyond the name — which means “friend of God” or “loved by God” — his identity is unknown. ↩
Note 2. According to 1 Chronicles 24, the priests were organized into twenty-four divisions that each took turns serving in the temple. Abijah’s was the eighth of these. With so many priests, the chance to burn incense in the sanctuary was assigned by lot and might come only once in a lifetime. ↩
Note 3. Abstaining from wine and strong drink echoes the Nazirite vow of Numbers 6, a dedication to God that also involved not cutting one’s hair and avoiding the dead. Such vows were normally taken for a set period; the angel describes this as John’s way of life from the womb, marking him out like the earlier lifelong Nazirites Samson and Samuel. ↩
Note 4. This draws directly on Malachi 4:5–6, which promised that God would send the prophet Elijah before “the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” turning “the hearts of the fathers to their children.” By the first century this had grown into a widespread expectation that Elijah would reappear to prepare the way for the Messiah — a hope still marked at the Passover seder, where a cup is poured for Elijah and the door opened for him. ↩
Note 5. In Hebrew scripture the horn — the strength of a charging animal — became a stock image for power and victory, as in “the Lord is... the horn of my salvation” (Psalm 18:2). ↩