1:1 - Since many of us have made it our business to write down a declaration of the things we most deeply believe,
1:2 - Trustworthy witnesses, even as they came to us;
1:3 - Dear Theophilus, I want to tell you the history of the things I have learned about.
1:4 - So that you can be sure of the things you’ve studied.
1:5 - During Herod’s (the king of Judea) reign there was a priest called Zacharias from Abia; his wife, Elizabeth, was one of Aaron’s daughters.
1:6 - Both of them were blameless in God’s eyes, following all the Lord’s laws and commandments.
1:7 - They were both now very old and never had children because Elisabeth was unable to.
1:8 - It happened that while he was performing his priestly function before God in the prescribed order of his division,
1:9 - Traditionally, the priest burned incense when he went into God’s temple.
1:10 - A huge gathering of people were praying outside while an offering of incense was burned.
1:11 - An angel of God came and stood on the the right side of the incense altar.
1:12 - When Zacharias spotted him he was very worried and afraid.
1:13 - And the angel said to Zacharias, Do not fear; your prayer is heard and your wife Elisabeth will give you a son and you will name your son John.
1:14 - You will be ecstatic and lots of people will be incredibly grateful for his birth.
1:15 - The Lord will delight with the sight of him, drinking neither wine or spirits, and the holy spirit shall inhabit him, even from within his mothers womb.
1:16 - He will convert the children of Israel to Christianity.
1:17 - And he will go ahead of him in the same way as Elias, to reconcile parents and children and make foolish people listen to sense, to make sure the people are ready for the Lord.
1:18 - How can I be sure of what your telling me, ask Zacharias of the angel. You know my wife and I all way to old for this.
1:19 - Then the angel responded to him, saying, I am Gabriel, whose place is with God, and I have been sent to speak to you and give you this good news.
1:20 - And, look, you will not be able to talk until the time all the things I have mentioned happens, due to your not believing what I have said, and these things should happen in their own time.
1:21 - The crowd, waiting for Zacharias, wondered why he was taking so long inside the temple.
1:22 - He was silent when he came out of the temple, and they figured that he must have seen a vision inside, because without speaking, he gestured to them to come closer.
1:23 - Eventually, as his turn at the temple was over, he went back home.
1:24 - And when he was done, His wife Elizabeth was pregnant and for five months she hid, saying
1:25 - In this manner, the Lord dealt with me in the days when he watched me, to remove my disgrace among humanity.
1:26 - Six months later, God sent Gabriel to Nazareth, in Galilee.
1:27 - The virgin Mary was married to a man named Joseph who was from the house of David.
1:28 - The angel appeared to her and said, Listen you are very special and the Lord is with you in spirit: You are a special woman.
1:29 - When she saw him, she was worried by what he said, and she tried to figure out how she should take his greeting.
1:30 - The Angel with golden hair met eyes with the frightened woman named Mary, and then she started to whisper, You need not to worry any longer, dear girl.. Her voice then became louder as she began to exclaim the holy words, For you are now under the protection of God’s loving and watchful gaze!.
1:31 - Know this: You shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, who you shall name Jesus.
1:32 - He will be a great man, and people will call him the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will bring him to inherit the throne of King David.
1:33 - And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and his kingdom will never end.
1:34 - Then Mary asked the angel, How can this be, since I am a virgin?
1:35 - The angel told her, The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will be over you: the holy son that you will bare should be called the Son of God.
1:36 - Take notice of your cousin Elisabeth. They said she was too old and couldn’t get pregnant and yet here she is in her sixth month carrying a son.
1:37 - When you walk the path of life with God standing at your side, you should know deep in your heart that everything you imagine is actually quite possible.
1:38 - Let me die and go to the Lord.
1:39 - And Mary arose then and hurried to the city of Juda in the hill country;
1:40 - He went to Zacharias house and waved to Elisabeth.
1:41 - When Elisabeth heard Mary greeting her, the baby in Mary’s stomach jumped and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
1:42 - In a loud voice, she said that young women and their children are blessed.
1:43 - To what is this to me, the Lords mother will come to me?
1:44 - As soon as I heard your voice greet me the unborn child within me lept for joy.
1:45 - She that believed is blessed; and the things that were told her from the Lord, shall come to pass.
1:46 - Mary said, God’s good works are shown through me.
1:47 - I am so happy in my faith.
1:48 - For he regarded the poverty of his handmaiden: Look from now on all generations shall call me blessed.
1:49 - He who is mighty has great things for me, his name is holy.
1:50 - God blesses those who respect and love him, and especially when whole families have a tradition and history of respecting and loving God.
1:51 - Then he created strength with his arm; as he spread the proud into the mind of their hearts.
1:52 - He humbled the mighty.
1:53 - He let the hungry have what they had been denied and let the rich feel what it was like to be in their shoes.
1:54 - He helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy;
1:55 - He spoke in the same manner as to generations before, to Abraham even and to the generations still to come.
1:56 - Mary lived with her for approximately three months and then came home.
1:57 - Elizabeth’s pregnancy came to an end and she delivered a son.
1:58 - Her cousins and neighbors heard how the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
1:59 - Time went on and on the eighth day they arrived to circumcise the child and named him Zacharias after his father.
1:60 - His mother answered and said, No- but we will name him John.
1:61 - There is none of the allied that is called by this name, they said to her.
1:62 - And they spoke to his father, how he would have spoken to him.
1:63 - Then he asked for something to write on and he wrote, His name is John. And they were all amazed.
1:64 - Suddenly his mouth opened, his tongue was set free, and he spoke, praising God.
1:65 - Throughout the country of Judea people shouted these sayings and everyone who lived near them grew scared.
1:66 - Everyone who was around wondered about what kind of person John would turn out to be, and God was always with John.
1:67 - The Holy Spirit filled the baby’s father, Zacharias, and he preached, saying,
1:68 - Blessed be the Lord God of Israel because he came and saved his people.
1:69 - And has raised up a token of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant.
1:70 - And he gave his message through his prophets, who have been in existence since the world began:
1:71 - We shall be saved from our enemies, and protected from all of those that would wish to harm us.
1:72 - Our fathers promised to perform mercy, and have his holy covenant remembered;
1:73 - The solemn promise he made to Abraham, our father,
1:74 - He saved us from our enemies so we could worship him without worrying.
1:75 - Each and every day of our lives, we shall remain holy and righteous before him.
1:76 - And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest, and you will go to the Lord to prepare his ways;
1:77 - To give knowledge of salvation to his subjects by them admitting their sins,
1:78 - By the mercy of God, a wellspring from heaven has come upon us.
1:79 - As you bring a lamp to those in darkness, in death, put our feet on the path of peace.
1:80 - The child grew and became spiritually strong, and he lived in the deserts until the day he appeared to the people of Israel.