American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been {Or, fully established}fulfilled among us,
even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
it 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;
that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the {Greek: words.}things {Or, which thou wast taught by word of mouth}wherein thou wast instructed.
There 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.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now {Greek: advanced in their days.}well stricken in years.
Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the {Or, sanctuary}temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
But 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.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor {Greek: sikera.}strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God.
And he shall {Some ancient authorities read come nigh before his face.}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.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife {Greek: advanced in her days.}well stricken in years.
And 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.
And 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.
And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled {Or, at his tarrying}while he tarried in the {Or, sanctuary}temple.
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the {Or, sanctuary}temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb.
And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.
And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art {Or, endued with grace}highly favored, the Lord is with thee {Many ancient authorities add blessed art thou among women. See verse 42.}.
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found {Or, grace}favor with God.
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He 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:
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob {Greek: unto the ages.}for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And 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 {Or, that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God}the holy thing which is begotten {Some ancient authorities insert of thee.} shall be called the Son of God.
And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that {Or, is}was called barren.
For no word from God shall be void of power.
And Mary said, Behold, the {Greek: bondmaid.}handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah;
and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth.
And 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;
and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?
For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
And blessed is she that {Or, believed that there shall be}believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.
And Mary said,My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath looked upon the low estate of his {Greek: bondmaid.}handmaid:For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;And holy is his name.
And his mercy is unto generations and generationsOn them that fear him.
He hath showed strength with his arm;He hath scattered the proud {Or, by}in the imagination of their heart.
He hath put down princes from their thrones,And hath exalted them of low degree.
The hungry he hath filled with good things;And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath given help to Israel his servant,That he might remember mercy
(As he spake unto our fathers)Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.
And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house.
Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her.
And 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.
And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called.
And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God.
And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa.
And 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.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,
And hath raised up a horn of salvation for usIn the house of his servant David
(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
To show mercy towards our fathers,And to remember his holy covenant;
The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,
To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemiesShould serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Yea 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;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his peopleIn the remission of their sins,
Because of the {Or, heart of mercy}tender mercy of our God, {Or, Wherein}Whereby the dayspring from on high {Many ancient authorities read hath visited us.}shall visit us,
To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death;To guide our feet into the way of peace.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that lift up the yoke on their jaws; and I laid food before them.
and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workers.
For I am not ashamed of the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
{Some ancient authorities omit verse 25-27. Compare the end of chapter 14.}Now to him that is able to establish you according to my {See marginal note on chapter 1:1}gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal,
And even if our {See marginal note on chapter 2:12.}gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that {Or, are perishing}perish:
and on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me {Or, in opening my mouth with boldness, to make known}in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the {Greek: good tidings. See Matthew 4:23 margin.}gospel,
After these things there was a {Many ancient authorities read the feast (compare chapter 2:13?)}feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew {Some ancient authorities read Bethsaida, others Bethzatha.}Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered {Many ancient authorities insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water 4 for the angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole, with whatsoever disease he was holden.}.
- - -
And a certain man was there, who had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity.
When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole?
The sick man answered him, {Or, Lord}Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy {Or, pallet}bed, and walk.
And straightway the man was made whole, and took up his {Or, pallet}bed and walked.Now it was the sabbath on that day.
So the Jews said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for thee to take up thy {Or, pallet}bed.
But he answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy {Or, pallet}bed, and walk.
They asked him, Who is the man that said unto thee, Take up thy {Or, pallet}bed, and walk?
But he that was healed knew not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in the place.
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee.
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work.
For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner.
For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel.
For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son;
that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that {Or, hearken}hear shall live.
For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself:
and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,
and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have {Or, practised}done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
It is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness unto the truth.
But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved.
He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.
But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.
And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not.
{Or, Search the scriptures}Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;
and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.
I receive not glory from men.
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves.
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from {Some ancient authorities read the only one.}the only God ye seek not?
Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope.
For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?