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Luke 1
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Chapter 1
I.
THE BIRTH AND HIDDEN LIFE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AND OF JESUS
Prologue
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Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us,
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exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
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I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus,
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so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.
The birth of John the Baptist foretold
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In the days of King Herod of Judaea there lived a priest called Zechariah who belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth by name, who was a descendant of Aaron.
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Both were worthy in the sight of God, and scrupulously observed all the commandments and observances of the Lord.
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But they were childless: Elizabeth was barren and they were both getting on in years.
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Now it was the turn of Zechariah’s section[*a] to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office before God
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when it fell to him by lot, as the ritual custom was, to enter the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there.[*b]
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And at the hour of incense the whole congregation was outside, praying.
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Then there appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of incense.
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The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear.
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But the angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John.
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He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth,
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for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink.[*d] Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
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and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
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With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children[*e] and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.
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Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years.’
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The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel who stand in God’s presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.
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Listen! Since you have not believed my words, which will come true at their appointed time, you will be silenced and have no power of speech until this has happened.’
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Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he stayed in the sanctuary so long.
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When he came out he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had received a vision in the sanctuary. But he could only make signs to them, and remained dumb.
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When his time of service came to an end he returned home.
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Some time later his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept to herself.
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‘The Lord has done this for me’ she said ‘now that it has pleased him to take away the humiliation I suffered among men.’ The annunciation
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In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
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to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
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He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’
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She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean,
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but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour.
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Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.
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He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David;
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he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’
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Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?'[*g]
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‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.
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Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month,
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for nothing is impossible to God'[*h]
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‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
The visitation
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Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah.
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She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.
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Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
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She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
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Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
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For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.
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Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
The Magnificat
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And Mary[*i] said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
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and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
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because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
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for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name,
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and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
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He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.
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He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
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The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
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He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
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-according to the promise he made to our ancestors-of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
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Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
The birth of John the Baptist and visit of the neighbours
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Meanwhile the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son;
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and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
The circumcision of John the Baptist
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Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call[*j] him Zechariah after his father,
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but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’
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They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’,
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and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called.
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The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John’. And they were all astonished.
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At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God.
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All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea.
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All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
The Benedictus
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His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
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‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel[*k] for he has visited his people, he has come to their rescue
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and he has raised up for us a power for salvation in the House of his servant David,
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even as he proclaimed, by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times,
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that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us.
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Thus he shows mercy to our ancestors, thus he remembers his holy covenant[*l]
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the oath he swore to our father Abraham
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that he would grant us, free from fear, to be delivered from the hands of our enemies,
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to serve him in holiness and virtue in his presence, all our days.
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And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way for him.
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To give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins;
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this by the tender mercy of our God who from on high Will bring the rising Sun to visit us,
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to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death[*m] and to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
The hidden life of John the Baptist
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Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.
Chapters of Luke
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
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