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Inasmuch··as many have taken··in··hand to set··in··order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fully··borne··out among us,
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even··as they who from the beginning became eyewitnesses and attendants of the Word have delivered them up to us,
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it seemed good to me also, having followed along with all things exactly from··above, to write them to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
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that◦ thou mightest know the certainty◦* of the words about which thou hast been informed.
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There was◦ in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the daily··ministry of Abijah; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
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And◦ they were both just in··the··sight of God, walking* in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
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And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both far advanced in their days.
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But◦ it came··to··pass, while he served··as··priest before▫ God in the order◦ of his daily··ministry,
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according··to the custom of the priesthood, it was his lot◦ to burn··incense when he went into the temple◦ of the Lord.
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And all the multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense.
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And◦ an angel of the Lord was seen by him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
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And seeing◦ him, Zacharias was disturbed, and fear fell on him.
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And◦ the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall give birth to a son for thee, and thou shalt call his name John.
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And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth.
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For he shall be great in··the··sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb◦.
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And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
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And he shall come before◦ Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children*, and in the prudence of the just to prepare the disobedient, a people made··ready for the Lord.
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And Zacharias said to the angel, Whereby shall I know this? For I am elderly, and my wife is far advanced in her days.
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And the angel answering said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in··the··sight of God, and am sent◦ to speak to thee, and to announce to thee these good··tidings.
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And behold◦, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.
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And the people were waiting◦ for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed so long in the temple◦.
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But◦ when he came··out he could not speak to them, and they knew that he had seen▵ a vision in the temple◦; and he beckoned to them, and remained mute.
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And it came··to··pass, when◦ the days of his ritual were fulfilled, that he departed◦ to◦ his own house.
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And◦ after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
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Thus has the Lord done to me in the days wherein He looked on me to take away my reproach among men.
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And◦ in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent··out from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
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to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
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And the angel coming··in to her said◦, Hail, thou who art graced! The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.
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But◦ when she saw◦ him she was disturbed at◦ his word, and reasoned within herself what··manner of a greeting this should be.
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And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with God.
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And behold◦, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring··forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus.
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He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of His father David.
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And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.
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But◦ Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man◦?
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And the angel answering said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that which shall be born of thee Holy* shall be called the Son of God.
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And behold◦ thy kinswoman Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old··age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.
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For with God not any saying shall be impossible.
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And◦ Mary said, Behold◦, the maidservant of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy saying. And the angel departed◦ from her.
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And◦ Mary stood··up in those days, and went with haste into the hill-country, into a city of Judah,
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and entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elizabeth.
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And it came to pass that when◦ Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb◦; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
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And she exclaimed with a great voice and said◦, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb◦!
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And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
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For behold◦, as soon as the voice of thy greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb◦ for gladness.
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And happy is she who has believed that there shall be a performance of those things which were spoken to her from▵ the Lord.
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And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord;
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and my spirit has leapt··for··joy in God my Saviour;
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for He has looked upon the lowliness of His maidservant; for behold◦, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
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For He who is powerful has done for me great things, and holy is His name.
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And His mercy is to generations of generations, to those who fear Him.
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He has made might by◦ His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thought◦ of their heart.
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He has taken··down the powerful from thrones, and has exalted the lowly.
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He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent··away◦ empty.
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He has accepted His servant* Israel, to remember mercy,
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as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for◦ ever.
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And◦ Mary remained with◦ her about◦ three months, and returned to◦ her own house.
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And◦ to Elizabeth was fulfilled the time◦ that she should bring··forth; and she gave··birth to a son.
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And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.
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And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the young child, and they called him by the name of his father, Zacharias.
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And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John.
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And they said to her, There is no one of thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.
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And◦ they beckoned to his father, what he willed to have him called.
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And he asked for a tablet, and wrote, saying, John is his name; and they all marveled.
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And◦ immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God.
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And fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were talked of in all◦ the hill-country of Judea.
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And all who heard put them in their hearts, saying, Who then shall this little··child be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.
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And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
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Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has visited and made redemption for His people,
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and has raised··up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant◦,
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as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from the ages,
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Salvation from◦ our enemies, and from◦ the hand of all who hate us;
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to do mercy with our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant;
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the oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
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that He would give to us, that we, being delivered◦ out of the hand of our enemies, might serve▵ Him without fear,
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in sacredness and justice in· His ·sight, all the days of our life.
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And thou, little··child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for◦ thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways;
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to give the knowledge of salvation to His people for the forgiveness of their sins,
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through the tender mercy* of our God, by◦ which the Dayspring* from◦ on high has visited us;
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to appear to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct◦ our feet into the way of peace.
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And◦ the little··child* grew, and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his appearing to Israel.
