The birth of John -- His mission -- The Annunciation of the Savior.

¹⁾ForasmuchAs asI am a messenger of Jesus Christ, and knowing that many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,:

²⁾Even as they delivered them unto us, whichwho from the beginning were eyewitnesses,eye-witnesses and ministers of the word;

³⁾It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴⁾That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

⁵⁾THEREThere was in the days of Herod, the king of JudaeaJudea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia:; and his wife wasbeing of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.Elizabeth,

⁶⁾And they wereWere both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.;

⁷⁾And they had no child,. because that ElisabethElizabeth was barren, and they both were nowboth well stricken in years.

⁸⁾And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God, in the order of his coursepriesthood,

⁹⁾According to the custom of the priest's officelaw, (his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.,)

¹⁰⁾And theThe whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

¹¹⁾And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²⁾And when Zacharias saw himthe angel, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

¹³⁾But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias:, for thy prayer is heard;, and thy wife ElisabethElizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

¹⁴⁾And thouThou shalt have joy and gladness;, and many shall rejoice at his birth.;

¹⁵⁾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 Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁶⁾And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.;

¹⁷⁾And he shall go before himthe Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

¹⁸⁾And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years.

¹⁹⁾And the angel answering, said unto him, I am Gabriel, thatwho stand in the presence of God;, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shewshow thee these glad tidings.

²⁰⁾And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believestbelievedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

²¹⁾And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelledmarveled that he tarried so long in the temple.

²²⁾And when he came out, he could not speak unto them:; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple:; for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

²³⁾And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

²⁴⁾And after those days, his wife ElisabethElizabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

²⁵⁾Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach from among men.

²⁶⁾And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God, unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,.

²⁷⁾To a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸⁾And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou thatvirgin, who art highly favoured,favored of the Lord. The Lord is with thee:, blessedfor thou art thouchosen and blessed among women.

²⁹⁾And when she saw himthe angel, she was troubled at his saying, and castpondered in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

³⁰⁾And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary:, for thou hast found favourfavor with God.

³¹⁾And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shaltshall call his name JESUSJesus.

³²⁾He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:;

³³⁾And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for everforever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

³⁴⁾Then said Mary unto the angel,; How shallcan this be, seeing I know not a man?

³⁵⁾And the angel answered and said unto her, TheOf the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest. shall overshadow thee: thereforeTherefore also, that holy thingchild whichthat shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

³⁶⁾And, behold, thy cousin ElisabethElizabeth, she hath also conceived a son, in her old age:; and this is the sixth month with her, who wasis called barren.

³⁷⁾For with God nothing shallcan be impossible.

³⁸⁾And Mary said, Behold the handmaidhandmade of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹⁾And Mary arose in those days, andMary went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;,

⁴⁰⁾And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted ElisabethElizabeth.

⁴¹⁾And it came to pass, that, when ElisabethElizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb;.

⁴²⁾And and ElisabethElizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42)And, and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³⁾And whencewhy is it, that this toblessing is upon me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44) For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

⁴⁵⁴⁴⁾And blessed isart shethou thatwho believed:, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told herthee fromby the angel of the Lord, shall be fulfilled.

⁴⁶⁴⁵⁾And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

⁴⁷⁴⁶⁾And my spirit hath rejoicedrejoiceth in God my SaviourSavior.

⁴⁸⁴⁷⁾For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹⁴⁸⁾For he thatwho is mighty hath done to me great things; and holyI iswill magnify his holy name.,

⁵⁰⁴⁹⁾AndFor his mercy is on themthose thatwho fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹⁵⁰⁾He hath shewedshowed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

⁵²⁵¹⁾He hath put down the mighty from their high seats,; and exalted them of low degree.

⁵³⁵²⁾He hath filled the hungry with good things; andbut the rich he hath sent empty away.

⁵⁴⁵³⁾He hath holpenhelped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;,

⁵⁵⁵⁴⁾As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for everforever.

⁵⁶⁵⁵⁾And Mary abode with herElizabeth about three months, and returned to her own house.

⁵⁷⁵⁶⁾NowAnd Elisabeth'snow Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

⁵⁸⁵⁷⁾And her neighboursneighbors, and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewedshowed great mercy uponunto her; and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹⁵⁸⁾And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

⁶⁰⁵⁹⁾And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

⁶¹⁶⁰⁾And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

⁶²⁶¹⁾And they made signs to his father, and asked him how he would have him called.

⁶³⁶²⁾And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John., Andand they marvelledall allmarveled.

⁶⁴⁶³⁾And his mouth was opened immediately, and he spake with his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

⁶⁵⁶⁴⁾And fear came on all thatwho dwelt round about them:. andAnd all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of JudaeaJudea.

⁶⁶⁶⁵⁾And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be!be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷⁶⁶⁾And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸⁶⁷⁾Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

⁶⁹⁶⁸⁾And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David;,

⁷⁰⁶⁹⁾As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have beenever since the world began:,

⁷¹⁷⁰⁾That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all thatthose who hate us;

⁷²⁷¹⁾To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

⁷³⁷²⁾The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

⁷⁴⁷³⁾That he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,

⁷⁵⁷⁴⁾In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our lifelives.

⁷⁶⁷⁵⁾And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;,

⁷⁷⁷⁶⁾To give knowledge of salvation unto his people, by baptism for the remission of their sins,

⁷⁸⁷⁷⁾Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspringday-spring from on high hath visited us,

⁷⁹⁷⁸⁾To give light to them thatwho sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,; to guide our feet into the way of peace.

⁸⁰⁷⁹⁾And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts tilluntil the day of his shewingshowing unto Israel.