1 Dear Theophilos: Concerning
the matters that have taken place among us, many people have
undertaken to draw up accounts
2 based on what was handed
down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and
proclaimers of the message.
3 Therefore, Your Excellency,
since I have carefully investigated all these things from the
beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an
accurate and ordered narrative,
4 so that you might know how
well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod, King
of Y'hudah, there was a cohen named Z'kharyah who belonged to the
Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name
was Elisheva.
6 Both of them were righteous
before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of ADONAI
blamelessly.
7 But they had no children,
because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in
years.
8 One time, when Z'kharyah
was fulfilling his duties as cohen during his division's period of
service before God,
9 he was chosen by lot
(according to the custom among the cohanim) to enter the Temple and
burn incense.
10 All the people were
outside, praying, at the time of the incense burning,
11 when there appeared to him
an angel of ADONAI standing to the right of the incense altar.
12 Z'kharyah was startled and
terrified at the sight.
13 But the angel said to him,
"Don't be afraid, Z'kharyah; because your prayer has been
heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to name
him Yochanan.
14 He will be a joy and a
delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born,
15 for he will be great in
the sight of ADONAI. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and
he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother's
womb.
16 He will turn many of the
people of Isra'el to ADONAI their God.
17 He will go out ahead of
ADONAI in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of
fathers to their childrena and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
righteous, to make ready for ADONAI a people prepared."
18 Z'kharyah said to the
angel, "How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man; my wife
too is well on in years."
19 "I am Gavri'el,"
the angel answered him, "and I stand in the presence of God. I
was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news.
20 Now, because you didn't
believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes,
you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take
place."
21 Meanwhile, the people were
waiting for Z'kharyah; they were surprised at his taking so long in
the Temple.
22 But when he came out
unable to talk to them, they realized that he had seen a vision in
the Temple; speechless, he communicated to them with signs.
23 When his period of his
Temple service was over, he returned home.
24 Following this, Elisheva
his wife conceived, and she remained five months in seclusion,
saying,
25 "ADONAI has done this
for me; he has shown me favor at this time, so as to remove my
public disgrace."
26 In the sixth month, the
angel Gavri'el was sent by God to a city in the Galil called
Natzeret,
27 to a virgin engaged to a
man named Yosef, of the house of David; the virgin's name was Miryam.
28 Approaching her, the angel
said, "Shalom, favored lady! ADONAI is with you!"
29 She was deeply troubled by
his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 The angel said to her,
"Don't be afraid, Miryam, for you have found favor with
God.
31 Look! You will become
pregnant, you will give birth to a son, and you are to name him
Yeshua.
32 He will be great, he will
be called Son of Ha`Elyon. ADONAI, God, will give him the throne of
his forefather David;
33 and he will rule the House
of Ya`akov forever -- there will be no end to his
Kingdom."
34 "How can this
be," asked Miryam of the angel, "since I am a
virgin?"
35 The angel answered her,
"The Ruach HaKodesh will come over you, the power of Ha`Elyon
will cover you. Therefore the holy child born to you will be called
the Son of God.
36 "You have a relative,
Elisheva, who is an old woman; and everyone says she is barren. But
she has conceived a son and is six months pregnant!
37 For with God, nothing is
impossible."
38 Miryam said, "I am
the servant of ADONAI; may it happen to me as you have said."
Then the angel left her.
39 Without delay, Miryam set
out and hurried to the town in the hill country of Y'hudah
40 where Z'kharyah lived,
entered his house and greeted Elisheva.
41 When Elisheva heard
Miryam's greeting, the baby in her womb stirred. Elisheva was filled
with the Ruach HaKodesh
42 and spoke up in a loud
voice, "How blessed are you among women! And how blessed is the
child in your womb!
43 "But who am I, 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 Indeed you are blessed,
because you have trusted that the promise ADONAI has made to you
will be fulfilled."
46 Then Miryam said, "My
soul magnifies ADONAI;
47 and my spirit rejoices in
God, my Savior,
48 who has taken notice of
his servant-girl in her humble position.b For -- imagine it! -- from
now on, all generations will call me blessed!
49 "The Mighty One has
done great things for me! Indeed, his name is holy;
50 and in every generation he
has mercy on those who fear him.
51 "He has
performed mighty deeds with his arm, routed the secretly
proud,
52 brought down rulers from
their thrones, raised up the humble,
53 filled the hungry with
good things, but sent the rich away empty.
54 "He has taken the
part of his servant Isra'el, mindful of the mercy
55 which he promised to our
fathers, to Avraham and his seed forever."
56 Miryam stayed with
Elisheva for about three months and then returned home.
57 The time arrived for
Elisheva to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.
58 Her neighbors and
relatives heard how good ADONAI had been to her, and they rejoiced
with her.
59 On the eighth day, they
came to do the child's b'rit-milah. They were about to name him
Z'kharyah, after his father,
60 when his mother spoke up
and said, "No, he is to be called Yochanan."
61 They said to her,
"None of your relatives has that name,"
62 and they made signs to his
father to find out what he wanted him called.
63 He motioned for a writing
tablet, and to everyone's surprise he wrote, "His name is
Yochanan."
64 At that moment, his power
of speech returned, and his first words were a b'rakhah to
God.
65 All their neighbors were
awestruck; and throughout the hill country of Y'hudah, people talked
about all these things.
66 Everyone who heard of them
said to himself, "What is this child going to be?" For
clearly the hand of ADONAI was with him.
67 His father Z'kharyah was
filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and spoke this prophecy:
68 "Praised be ADONAI,
the God of Isra'el, because he has visited and made a ransom to
liberate his people
69 by raising up for us a
mighty Deliverer who is a descendant of his servant David.
70 It is just as he has
spoken through the mouth of the prophets from the very beginning --
71 that we should be
delivered from our enemies and from the power of all who hate
us.
72 "This has happened so
that he might show the mercy promised to our fathers -- that he
would remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore before
Avraham avinu
74 to grant us that we, freed
from our enemies, would serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and
righteousness before him all our days.
76 You, child, will be called
a prophet of Ha`Elyon; you will go before the Lord to prepare his
way
77 by spreading the knowledge
among his people that deliverance comes by having sins
forgiven
78 through our God's most
tender mercy, which causes the Sunrise to visit us from
Heaven,
79 to shine on those in
darkness, living in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into
the paths of peace."
80 The child grew and became
strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until the time came
for him to appear in public to Isra'el.
