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Luke 1
WEB
World English Bible · 2000
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949
1Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,
1As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,
2even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
2As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,
3it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;
3It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus;
4that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.
4So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.
5There was in the days of Herod, king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
5In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
6They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.
7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
7And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.
8Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
8Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God,
9according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
9And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.
10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.
10And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.
11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
11And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.
12And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
12And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.
13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
13But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.
14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
14And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.
15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
15For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.
16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God.
16And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.
17And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.
17And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.
18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
18And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.
19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.
19And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.
20And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
20Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.
21And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried in the temple.
21And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.
22And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb.
22And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words.
23And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.
23And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.
24And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
24After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men's eyes for five months, saying,
25Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
25The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.
26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,
27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
27To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.
28And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.
28And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.
29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.
29But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words?
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
30And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God's approval.
31And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
31And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
32He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:
33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
33He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
34And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?
35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.
35And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.
36And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.
36Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.
38And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
38And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.
39And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah;
39Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah;
40and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth.
40And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms.
41And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit;
41And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit,
42and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
42And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.
43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?
43How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
44For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
44For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.
45And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.
45Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.
48For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaid: For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
48For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.
49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name.
49For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.
50And his mercy is unto generations and generations On them that fear him.
50His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.
51He hath showed strength with his arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.
51With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.
52He hath put down princes from their thrones, And hath exalted them of low degree.
52He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.
53The hungry he hath filled with good things; And the rich he hath sent empty away.
53Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands;
54He hath given help to Israel his servant, That he might remember mercy
54His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,
55(As he spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.
55As he gave his word to our fathers.
56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.
56And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.
57Now Elisabeth’s time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
57Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.
58And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her.
58And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy.
59And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
59And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name;
60And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
60But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.
61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
61And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.
62And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called.
62And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.
63And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
63And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.
64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God.
64And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God.
65And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa.
65And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.
66And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
66And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
67And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words:
68Blessedbethe Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,
68Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,
69And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David
69Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),
70(As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,)
71Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
71Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;
72To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant;
72To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,
74To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear,
74That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,
75In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
75In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.
76Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways;
76And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways;
77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people In the remission of their sins,
77To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins,
78Because of the tender mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,
78Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,