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So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, |
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using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. |
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Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story's beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, |
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so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught. |
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During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. |
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Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. |
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But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old. |
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It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, |
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it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. |
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The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. |
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Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. |
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Zachariah was paralyzed in fear. |
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But the angel reassured him, "Don't fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. |
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You're going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you--many will delight in his birth. |
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He'll achieve great stature with God. "He'll drink neither wine nor beer. He'll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother's womb. |
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He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. |
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He will herald God's arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics--he'll get the people ready for God." |
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Zachariah said to the angel, "Do you expect me to believe this? I'm an old man and my wife is an old woman." |
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But the angel said, "I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. |
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But because you won't believe me, you'll be unable to say a word until the day of your son's birth. Every word I've spoken to you will come true on time--God's time." |
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Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. |
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When he came out and couldn't speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people. |
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When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home.[ |
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It wasn't long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. |
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"So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!" she said. |
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In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth |
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to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. |
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Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. |
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She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. |
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But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: |
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You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. |
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He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.' The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; |
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He will rule Jacob's house forever-- no end, ever, to his kingdom." |
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Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man." |
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The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God. |
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"And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months' pregnant! |
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Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." |
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And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her. |
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Mary didn't waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, |
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straight to Zachariah's house, and greeted Elizabeth. |
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When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, |
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and sang out exuberantly, You're so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! |
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And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? |
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The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. |
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Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true! |
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And Mary said, I'm bursting with God-news; |
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I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. |
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God took one good look at me, and look what happened-- I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, |
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the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. |
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His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. |
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He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. |
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He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. |
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The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. |
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He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. |
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It's exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. |
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Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home. |
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When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. |
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Her neighbors and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her. |
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On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. |
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But his mother intervened: "No. He is to be called John." |
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"But," they said, "no one in your family is named that." |
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They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named. |
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Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, "His name is to be John." That took everyone by surprise. |
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Surprise followed surprise--Zachariah's mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God! |
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A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. |
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Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, "What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this." |
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Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, |
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Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he came and set his people free. |
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He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives, and in the very house of David his servant, |
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Just as he promised long ago through the preaching of his holy prophets: |
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Deliverance from our enemies and every hateful hand; |
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Mercy to our fathers, as he remembers to do what he said he'd do, |
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What he swore to our father Abraham-- |
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a clean rescue from the enemy camp, So we can worship him without a care in the world, |
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made holy before him as long as we live. |
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And you, my child, "Prophet of the Highest," will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways, |
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Present the offer of salvation to his people, the forgiveness of their sins. |
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Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God's Sunrise will break in upon us, |
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Shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, Then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace. |
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The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel. |
Luke 1:6 English Language Bible Words basic statistical display
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