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Luke 1 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

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Dedication to Theophilus
John the Baptist Is Born
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:1 - Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled[fn] among us,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:2 - just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:3 - it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:4 - that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.
John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:5 - There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:6 - And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:7 - But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:8 - So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:9 - according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:10 - And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:11 - Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:12 - And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:13 - But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:14 - “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:15 - “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:16 - “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:17 - “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’[fn] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:18 - And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:19 - And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:20 - “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:21 - And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:22 - But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:23 - So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:24 - Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:25 - “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:26 - Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:27 - to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:28 - And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:29 - But when she saw him,[fn] she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:30 - Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:31 - “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:32 - “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:33 - “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:34 - Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:35 - And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:36 - “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:37 - “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:38 - Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:39 - Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:40 - and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:41 - And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:42 - Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:43 - “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:44 - “For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:45 - “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
The Song of Mary
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:46 - And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:47 - And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:48 - For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:49 - For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:50 - And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:51 - He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:52 - He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:53 - He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:54 - He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:55 - As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:56 - And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
Birth of John the Baptist
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:57 - Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:58 - When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
Circumcision of John the Baptist
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:59 - So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:60 - His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:61 - But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:62 - So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:63 - And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:64 - Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:65 - Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:66 - And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zacharias’ Prophecy
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:67 - Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:68 - “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:69 - And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:70 - As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:71 - That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:72 - To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:73 - The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:74 - To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:75 - In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:76 - “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:77 - To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:78 - Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited[fn] us;
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:79 - To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Unchecked Copy BoxLuk 1:80 - So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
NKJV Footnotes
Or are most surely believed
Malachi 4:5, 6
NU-Text omits blessed are you among women.
NU-Text omits when she saw him.
NU-Text reads shall visit.
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

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Luke Chapter 1 — Additional Translations: