Luke 1:1-25.

Luke 1:1-25 (Good News Translation)

1Dear Theophilus:

         Many people have done their best to write a report of the things
that have taken place among us.
          2They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these
things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message.
          3And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all
these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an
orderly account for you.
          4I do this so that you will know the full truth about
everything which you have been taught.

          5During the time when Herod was king of Judea,
          there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the
priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged
to a priestly family.
          6They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all
the Lord's laws and commands.
          7They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and
she and Zechariah were both very old.
          8One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the
Temple, taking his turn in the daily service.
          9According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen
by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the
Lord,
          10while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when
the incense was burned.
          11An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right
side of the altar where the incense was burned.
          12When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid.
          13But the angel said to him,
         Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your
wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John.
          14How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others
will be when he is born!

          15John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any
wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy
Spirit,
          16and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the
Lord their God.

          17He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the
prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will
turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he
will get the Lord's people ready for him.

          18Zechariah said to the angel,
         How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is
old also.


          19I am Gabriel, the angel answered.
         I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and
tell you this good news.
          20But you have not believed my message, which will come true at
the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak;
you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.

          21In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and
wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple.
          22When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they
knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he
made signs to them with his hands.
          23When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah
went back home.
          24Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did
not leave the house for five months.

          25Now at last the Lord has helped me, she said.
         He has taken away my public disgrace!

God bless you.