1Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, (徒3:18; 提后4:5; 提后4:17)2just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, (可1:1; 可4:14; 约15:27; 约16:4; 徒4:20; 徒11:15; 徒26:16; 林前4:1; 林前11:2; 林前11:23; 來2:3; 彼前5:1; 彼后1:16; 约一1:1; 约一1:3)3it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, (徒1:1; 徒11:4; 徒23:26; 徒24:3; 徒26:25)4that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (徒2:36; 徒18:25; 羅2:18; 林前14:19; 加6:6; 彼后1:16; 彼后1:19)
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[1] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (代上24:10; 太2:1; 路1:8)6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (路2:25; 徒23:1; 徒24:16; 腓2:15; 腓3:6; 帖前2:10; 帖前3:13; 帖前5:23)7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. (创18:11; 士13:2; 撒上1:2; 路1:36; 來11:11)8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, (代上24:19; 代下8:14; 代下31:2; 路1:5; 路1:23)9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. (出30:7; 撒上2:28; 代上23:13; 代下29:11; 路1:21; 來9:2; 启11:2; 启11:19)10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. (利16:17; 诗141:2; 启5:8; 启8:3)11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (出30:1; 出40:26)12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. (徒19:17)13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (路1:60; 路1:63; 徒10:4; 徒10:31)14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, (路1:58)15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (民6:3; 士13:4; 士13:7; 士13:14; 赛49:1; 赛49:5; 耶1:5; 太11:11; 太11:18; 路1:41; 路1:67; 路7:28; 路7:33; 徒2:4; 徒2:15; 徒2:17; 加1:15; 弗5:18)16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (玛3:1; 玛4:6; 太11:10; 太11:14; 可1:2; 路1:76; 路7:27; 约3:28; 羅10:21)18And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” (创15:8; 创17:17)19And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. (王上17:1; 伯1:6; 赛63:9; 但8:16; 但9:21; 太18:10; 路1:26; 启8:2)20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” (结3:26; 结24:27)21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. (路1:9)22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. (路1:21; 路1:62)23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. (王下11:5; 代上9:25; 代下23:8; 路1:8; 來10:11)24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,25“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (创30:23; 撒上1:6; 诗113:9; 赛4:1)
Birth of Jesus Foretold
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, (太2:23; 路1:19)27to a virgin betrothed[2] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. (太1:16; 太1:18; 太1:20; 路2:4)28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”[3] (士6:12; 诗45:2; 但9:23)29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. (路1:12)30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (徒7:46)31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. (赛7:14; 太1:21; 太1:25; 路2:21)32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, (撒下7:11; 撒下7:16; 诗89:4; 诗132:11; 赛9:6; 赛16:5; 太1:1; 可5:7; 路1:69; 路1:76; 路6:35; 徒2:30; 徒7:48; 启3:7)33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (但2:44; 但7:14; 但7:18; 但7:27; 约12:34; 來1:8; 启11:15)34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”[4]35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[5] will be called holy—the Son of God. (太1:18; 太1:20; 太14:33; 路1:32; 约6:69)36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. (路1:7)37For nothing will be impossible with God.” (创18:14; 太19:26)38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant[6] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (士6:21; 徒12:10)
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, (书20:7; 书21:11; 路1:65)40and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, (路1:15; 路1:67)42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! (申28:4; 士5:24; 诗127:3)43And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (路2:11; 路20:42; 约20:28)44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed is she who believed that there would be[7] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (路1:20; 约20:29)
57Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. (创19:19)59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, (创17:12; 利12:3; 路2:21; 腓3:5)60but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” (路1:13)61And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. (路1:22)63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. (赛8:1; 赛30:8; 路1:60)64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. (可7:35; 路1:20; 路2:28; 路24:53)65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, (路1:39; 路7:16)66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. (路2:19; 路2:51; 徒11:21; 徒13:11)
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, (珥2:28; 路1:15; 路1:41)68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people (出4:31; 王上1:48; 代上29:10; 拉7:27; 诗41:13; 诗72:18; 诗106:48; 诗111:9; 诗130:7; 赛29:23; 赛43:1; 赛59:20; 太15:31; 路1:78; 路2:38; 路7:16; 路24:21; 徒13:17; 徒15:14; 來2:6)69and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, (撒上2:1; 撒上2:10; 撒下22:3; 诗18:2; 诗132:17; 结29:21; 路1:32)70as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, (耶23:5; 徒3:21; 羅1:2)71that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; (诗106:10)72to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, (利26:42; 诗105:8; 弥7:20; 路1:54; 羅9:4)73the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us (创22:16; 创26:3; 來6:13)74that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, (番3:15)75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (耶32:39; 太28:20; 弗4:24; 帖前2:10; 多2:12)76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, (玛3:1; 太3:3; 太11:9; 太14:5; 可1:2; 路1:17; 路1:32; 路3:4; 路7:26; 路7:27; 路20:6)77to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, (太26:28; 可1:4)78because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us[8] from on high (玛4:2; 路1:68; 路24:49; 弗5:14; 西3:12; 彼后1:19)79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (诗107:10; 赛9:2; 赛42:7; 太4:16; 路2:14; 约8:12; 徒26:18; 羅3:17)80And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (太3:1; 太11:7; 路2:40)