1 Because many have decided to write the accounts of the deeds of which we are persuaded,
2 as that which they delivered to us, those who were previously eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
3 it seemed good also to me, because I had carefully attended to all of them, that I should write down everything in order for you, noble Theophilus,
4 that you might know the truth of the words that you have been taught.
5 There was, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest who was called Zacharias, from the service of the house of Abia and his wife, from the daughters of Aaron, whose name was Elisabeth.
6 And both of them were righteous before God and were walking in all his commandments and in the righteousness of the lord without blame.
7 But they had no son because Elisabeth was barren, and both of them were advanced in age.
8 And it happened [that] while he was serving as priest in the order of his service before God
9 in the custom of the priesthood, [the time] came that he was to place the incense. And he entered the temple of the lord,
10 and all the crowd of people was praying outside at the time of incense.
11 And an angel of the lord who stood at the right side of the altar of incense appeared to Zacharias.
12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 And the angel said to him, Do not fear, Zacharias, because your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elisabeth, will bear to you a son, and you will call his name John,
14 and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great before the lord and will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with holy spirit while he is in the womb of his mother.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the lord their God.
17 And he will go before him in the spirit and in the might of Elias, the prophet, that he might turn the heart of the fathers unto the children and those who are disobedient to the knowledge of the just. And he will prepare for the lord a perfect people.
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, How will I know this? For I am old and my wife is advanced in age.
19 And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel because I stand before God. And I have been sent to speak with you and to declare these [things].
20 Now, you will be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these [things] occur, because you did not believe my words that will be fulfilled in their season.
21 Now the people were standing and waiting for Zacharias, and they wondered about his delay in the temple.
22 And when Zacharias came out, he was not able to speak with them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he anxiously made signs to them, but remained dumb.
23 And after the days of his service were fulfilled, he went to his house.
24 And it happened after those days [that] Elisabeth, his wife, conceived. And she hid herself [for] five months, and said,
25 These [things] the lord did for me in the days that he looked on me to take away my reproach that was among men.
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from the presence of God to Galilee, to the city whose name is Nazareth,
27 to a virgin who was engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, from the house of David. And the name of the virgin [was] Mary.
28 And the angel came to her and said to her, Peace to you, full of grace; our lord [is] with you, blessed of mankind.
29 But when she saw [him], she was frightened at his saying and wondered, What is this greeting?
30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God.
31 For behold, you will get pregnant and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus.
32 This one will be great and will be called the son of the highest, and the lord God will give to him the throne of David, his father.
33 And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and to his kingdom there will not be an end.
34 Mary said to the angel, How can this be, seeing that I have not known a man?
35 The angel answered and said to her, The holy spirit will come, and the power of the almighty will descend upon you. Because of this, the one who is begotten in you is holy and will be called the son of God.
36 And behold, Elisabeth, your kinswoman, also is pregnant [with a] son in her old age, and this [is] her sixth month, she who was called barren.
37 Because no thing [is] difficult for God.
38 Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
39 And Mary arose in those days and went quickly to a mountain, to a city of Judea.
40 And she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elisabeth.
41 And it happened that when Elisabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elisabeth was filled with holy spirit
42 and cried out in a great voice and said to Mary, You are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit that is in your womb.
43 How did this [happen] to me that the mother of my lord would come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting fell upon my ears, the baby in my womb leaped with great joy.
45 And blessed [is] she who believed, because there will be a completion of those [things] that were spoken with her in the presence of the lord.
46 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the lord
47 and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior
48 because he has looked at the humiliation of his handmaid. For behold, from now on all generations will give me a blessing.
49 Because he who is mighty has done great things with me, and his name [is] holy.
50 And his mercy [is] upon those who fear him for ages and generations.
51 He has accomplished victory with his arm, and has scattered [all] the proud in the thought of their heart.
52 He has cast down the mighty from the seats and exalted the humble.
53 The hungry he has satisfied with good [things], but the rich he has sent away empty handed.
54 He has aided Israel his servant and remembered his mercy,
55 as he spoke with our fathers, with Abraham and with his seed forever.
56 And Mary stayed with Elisabeth for three months, then she returned to her house.
57 Now [concerning] Elisabeth, the time came to her that she bear, and she bore a son.
58 And her neighbors and her relatives heard that God had increased his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the young boy, and they were going to call him by the name of his father, Zacharias.
60 But his mother answered and said to them, Not so; but he will be called John.
61 And they said to her, There is no man in your tribe who is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father as to what he wanted to call him.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote and said, His name is John. And everyone marveled.
64 And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue [loosed], and he spoke and blessed God.

65 And fear came over all their neighbors, and in all the mountain of Judea these [things] were spoken.
66 And all who heard were pondering in their heart and saying, What indeed will this child be? And the hand of the lord was with him.
67 And Zacharias, his father, was filled with holy spirit and prophesied and said,
68 The lord is blessed, the God of Israel, who has visited his nation and made available salvation to it.
69 And he has raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who were from old,
71 that he would save us from our adversaries and from the hand of all our enemies.
72 And he has performed his mercy with our fathers, and has remembered his holy covenants
73 and the oaths that he swore to Abraham, our father, that he would give to us
74 that we would be delivered from the hand of our adversaries and that without fear we might serve before him
75 all our days in godliness and righteousness.
76 And you, [oh] child, will be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the face of the lord that you might prepare his way
77 so that he might give the knowledge of life to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 by the bowels of the mercy of our God by which the dawn from on high will visit us
79 to enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadows of death, that he might direct [their] feet in the way of peace.
80 And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to Israel.

1 Because many have decided to write the accounts of the deeds of which we are persuaded,
2 like that which they delivered to us, those who were previously eyewitnesses and shammashim of the Word,
3 it seemed good also to me, because I had carefully attended to all of them, that I should write down everything in order for you, noble Theophilus,
4 that you might know the truth of the words that you have been taught.
5 There was, in the days of Herod, the king of Y'huah, one Cohen who was called Z'kharyah, from the service of the house of Aviyah and his wife, from the daughters of Aharon, whose name was Elisheva.
6 And both of them were righteous before Eloah and were walking in all his commandments and in the righteousness of YHWH without blame.
7 But they had no son because Elisheva was barren, and both of them elderly.
8 And it happened (that) while he was serving as Cohen in the order of his service before Eloah
9 in the custom of the priesthood, it came that he was to place the incense. And he entered the Temple <of YHWH>,
10 and all the crowd of people was praying outside at the time of incense.
11 And an angel of YHWH who stood at the right side of the altar of incense appeared to Z'kharyah.
12 And Z'kharyah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 And the angel said to him, Do not fear, Z'kharyah, because your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elisheva, will bear to you a son, and you will call his name Yochanan,
14 and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great before YHWH and will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled Ruach HaKodesh while he is in the womb of his mother.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Yisrael to YHWH their Eloah.
17 And he will go before him in the spirit and in the might of Eliyahu, the prophet, that he might turn the heart of the fathers unto the children and those who are disobedient to the knowledge of the just. And he will prepare for YHWH a whole-hearted people.
18 And Z'kharyah said to the angel, How will I know this? For I am old and my wife is advanced in age.
19 And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gavri'el because I stand before Eloah. And I have been sent to speak with you and to declare these (things).
20 Now, you will be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these (things) occur, because you did not believe my words that will be fulfilled in their season.
21 Now the people were standing and waiting for Z'kharyah, and they wondered about his delay in the temple.
22 And when Z'kharyah came out, he was not able to speak with them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he anxiously made signs to them, but remained dumb.
23 And after the days of his service were fulfilled, he went to his house.
24 And it happened after those days (that) Elisheva, his wife, conceived. And she hid herself (for) five months, and said,
25 These (things) YHWH did for me in the days that he looked on me to take away my reproach that was among men.
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gavri'el was sent from the presence of Eloah to Galilee, to the city whose name is Natzaret,
27 to a virgin who was betrothed to a man whose name was Yosef, from the house of David. And the name of the virgin (was) Miriam.
28 And the angel came to her and said to her, Shalom to you, full of favor; our Adon is with you, blessed of mankind.
29 But when she saw (him), she was frightened at his saying and wondered, What is this greeting?
30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Miriam, for you have found favor with Eloah.
31 For behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name Yeshua.
32 This one will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and Adonai YHWH will give to him the throne of David, his father.
33 And he will reign over the house of Ya'akov forever, and to his kingdom there will not be an end.
34 Miriam said to the angel, How could this be, seeing that I have not known a man?
35 The angel answered and said to her, The Ruach HaKodesh will come, and the power of the almighty will descend upon you. Because of this, the one who is begotten in you is holy and will be called the Son of Eloah.
36 And behold, Elisheva, your kinswoman, also is pregnant (with a) son in her old age, and this (is) her sixth month, she who was called barren.
37 Because no thing (is) difficult for Eloah.
38 Miriam said, Behold, I am the handmaid of YHWH; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
39 And Miriam arose in those days and went quickly to a mountain, to a city of Y'huah.
40 And she entered the house of Z'kharyah and bid shalom to Elisheva.
41 And it happened that when Elisheva heard the greeting of Miriam, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elisheva was filled with holy spirit
42 and cried out in a great voice and said to Miriam, You are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit that is in your womb.
43 How did this happen to me that the mother of my Adon would come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting fell upon my ears, the baby in my womb leaped with great joy.
45 And happy is it for she who trusted, because there will be a completion of that which was spoken with her <in the presence of> YHWH.
46 And Miriam said, My nefesh magnifies YHWH
47 and my spirit has rejoiced in Eloah my savior
48 because he has looked at the humiliation of his handmaid. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 Because he who is mighty has done great things with me, and his name is holy.
50 And his mercy is upon those who fear him for ages and generations.
51 He has accomplished victory with his arm, and has scattered the proud in the thought of their heart.
52 He has cast down the mighty from the seats and exalted the humble.
53 The hungry he has satisfied with good, but the rich he has sent away empty-handed.
54 He has aided Yisrael his son and remembered his mercy,
55 as he spoke with our fathers, with Avraham and with his seed forever.
56 And Miriam stayed with Elisheva for three months, then she returned to her house.
57 Now as to Elisheva, the time came to her that she bear, and she bore a son.
58 And her neighbors and her relatives heard that Eloah had increased his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the young boy, and they were going to call him by the name of his father, Z'kharyah.
60 But his mother answered and said to them, Not so; but he will be called Yochanan.
61 And they said to her, There is no man in your family-line who is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father as to what he wanted to name him.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote and said, His name is Yochanan.
64 And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue (loosed), and he spoke and blessed Eloah. And everyone marveled.
65 And fear came over all their neighbors, and in all the mountain of Judea these (things) were spoken.
66 And all who heard were pondering in their heart and saying, What indeed will this child be? And the hand of YHWH was with him.
67 And Z'kharyah, his father, was filled with Ruach HaKodesh and prophesied and said,
68 Blessed is YHWH, the Eloah of Yisrael, who has visited his nation and made available salvation to it.
69 And he has raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who were from old,
71 that he would save us from our adversaries and from the hand of all our enemies.
72 And he has performed his mercy with our fathers, and has remembered his holy covenants
73 and the oaths that he swore to Avraham, our father, that he would give to us
74 that we would be delivered from the hand of our adversaries and that without fear we might serve before him
75 all our days in godliness and righteousness.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the face of YHWH that you might prepare his way
77 so that he might give the knowledge of life to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 by the bowels of the mercy of our Eloah by which the dawn from on high will visit us
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadows of death, that he might direct their feet in the way of shalom.
80 And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to Yisrael.