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.
And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
And Hannah prayed, and said:My heart exulteth in Jehovah;My horn is exalted in Jehovah;My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;Because I rejoice in thy salvation.
There is none holy as Jehovah;For there is none besides thee,Neither is there any rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly;Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth;For Jehovah is a God of knowledge, {According to another reading, Though actions be not weighed.}And by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken;And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread;And they that were hungry {Or, have rest}have ceased to hunger:Yea, the barren hath borne seven;And she that hath many children languisheth.
Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive:He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.
Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich:He bringeth low, he also lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,To make them sit with princes,And inherit the throne of glory:For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's,And he hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of his {Or, godly ones Another reading is, holy one.}holy ones;But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;For by strength shall no man prevail.
They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces;Against them will he thunder in heaven:Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth;And he will give strength unto his king,And exalt the horn of his anointed.
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto Jehovah before Eli the priest.
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah.
And the custom of the priests with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand;
and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.
Yea, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of thee, but raw.
And if the man said unto him, They will surely burn the fat {Hebrew: to-day.}first, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then {Another reading is, he would say unto him, Thou &c.}he would say, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah.
But Samuel ministered before Jehovah, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah give thee seed of this woman for the petition which was asked of Jehovah. And they went unto their own home.
{The Hebrew has, For.}And Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before Jehovah.
Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting.
And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.
Nay, my sons; for it is no good report {Or, which I hear Jehovah's people do spread abroad}that I hear: ye make Jehovah's people to transgress.
If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against Jehovah, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because Jehovah was minded to slay them.
And the child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah, and also with men.
And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt {Or, in Pharaoh's house}in bondage to Pharaoh's house?
{Or, And I chose}and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to {Or, offer upon}go up unto mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? {Or, and gave}and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
Wherefore {Or, trample ye upon…and upon}kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.
And thou shalt behold {Or, an adversary in my habitation}the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.
{Or, Yet will I not cut off every man of thine from mine altar, to consume &c.}And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy heart; and all the increase of thy house shall die {Hebrew: when they are men.}in the flower of their age.
And this shall be the sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them.
And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.