1Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative concerning the matters that have been fully established among us,
2just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the logos(word) delivered them to us,
3it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely from the beginning, to write them out in order for you, most excellent Theophilos,
4so that you may epiginosko(knowing-without-misjudgment) the certainty of the logos(words) in which you were instructed.
5In the days of Herod king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah, and his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and dikaioma(ordinances) of the Lord.
7And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8Now it came about that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,
9according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense,
10and the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hora(that-hour) of the incense offering.
11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13The angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15For he will be great before the Lord, and he will drink no wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with hagio(holy) pneuma(spirit) even from his mother's womb.
16And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
17and he himself will go before Him in the pneuma(spirit) and dynamis(power) of Elijah, to turn the kardia(hearts, soul-domain) of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people."
18Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in her years."
19The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my logos(words), which will be fulfilled in their kairos(appointed-time)."
21The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.
22When he came out he was unable to speak to them, and they realized he had seen an optasia(vision) in the temple; and he kept making signs to them and remained mute.
23And it came about that when the days of his service were completed, he went back to his home.
24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,
25"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when He looked on me, to take away my disgrace among people."
26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mariam.
28And coming to her the angel said, "Rejoice, you who have received charis(grace); the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women."
29But she was deeply troubled at this logos(word) and was dialogizomai(pondering) what sort of greeting this might be.
30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mariam, for you have found charis(grace) with God.
31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua(Jesus).
32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David,
33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
34Mariam said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have no knowledge of a man?"
35The angel answered and said to her, "Hagio(holy) pneuma(spirit) will come upon you, and the dynamis(power) of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
36And behold, your relative Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren —
37for no rhema(spoken-word) will be impossible with God."
38Mariam said, "Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your rhema(spoken-word)." And the angel departed from her.
39Mariam arose in those days and journeyed with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,
40and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
41And it came about that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mariam, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with hagio(holy) pneuma(spirit),
42and she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
46And Mariam said, "My psyche(soul) magnifies the Lord,
47and my pneuma(spirit) rejoices in God my Savior,
48because He looked upon the lowly state of His servant; for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
50And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him.
51He has shown kratos(dominion) with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the dianoia(thought) of their kardia(heart, soul-domain).
52He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.
53He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
54He has helped Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy,
55as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever."
56Mariam remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
57Now the chronos(chronological-time) came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him by the name of his father, Zacharias.
60His mother answered and said, "No, he shall be called John."
61And they said to her, "No one among your relatives is called by this name."
62They made signs to his father as to what he wanted him to be called.
63He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John," and everyone marveled.
64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God.
65And fear came upon all those who lived around them, and all these rhema(spoken-utterances) were talked about through all the hill country of Judea.
66And all who heard them kept them in their kardia(heart, soul-domain), saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67And his father Zacharias was filled with hagio(holy) pneuma(spirit) and prophesied, saying,
68"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and accomplished redemption for His people,
69and has raised up a horn of Salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
70as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old —
71Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72to show mercy toward our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
73the oath that He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74that, rescued from the hand of our enemies, we might serve Him without fear,
75in holiness and dikaiosyne(righteousness) before Him all our days.
76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways,
77to give gnosis(knowledge) of Salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins,
78through the splanchnon(compassionate-mercies) of our God, by which the Dayspring from on high has visited us,
79to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of eirene(peace)."
80And the child grew and became strong in pneuma(spirit), and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.