The People Who Sealed the Covenant

1 ^e“On the seals are the names of¹ Nehemiah ^fthe governor, ^gthe son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 ^hSeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 ⁱHattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: ^jJeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of ^kHenadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: ^lParosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

28 ^m“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, ⁿand all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, ^oand enter into a curse and an oath ^pto walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 ^qWe will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 ^rAnd if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the ^sseventh year and the ^texaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly ^ua third part of a shekel² for the service of the house of our God: 33 ^vfor the showbread, ^wthe regular grain offering, ^wthe regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 ^xWe, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots ^yfor the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, ^zas it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves ^ato bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, ^bas it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 ^cand to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, ^dto the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^ethe storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi ^fshall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. ^gWe will not neglect the house of our God.”

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that ^ahave been accomplished among us, 2 ^bjust as those who ^cfrom the beginning were ^deyewitnesses and ^eministers of ^fthe word ^ghave delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write ^han orderly account for you, ⁱmost excellent ^jTheophilus, 4 that you may have ^kcertainty concerning the things ^lyou have been taught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 ^mIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{1 n}of ^othe division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both ^prighteous before God, walking ^qblamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because ^rElizabeth was barren, and ^sboth were advanced in years.

8 Now ^twhile he was serving as priest before God when ^uhis division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^vto enter ^wthe temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people ^xwere praying ^youtside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^zthe altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^afear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^byour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^cyou shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^drejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be ^egreat before the Lord. And ^fhe must not drink wine or strong ^gdrink, and ^ghe will be ^hfilled with the Holy Spirit, ⁱeven from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and ^jhe will go before him ^kin the spirit and power of Elijah, ^lto turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^mthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ⁿto make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, ^o“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am ^pGabriel. ^qI stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, ^ryou 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.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^sthe temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^sthe temple. And ^the kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And ^uwhen his time of ^vservice was ended, he went to his home.

24 After 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, ^wto take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel ^xGabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^yNazareth, 27 ^zto a virgin betrothed² to a man whose name was Joseph, ^aof the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^bO favored one, ^cthe Lord is with you!”³ 29 But ^dshe was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^eyou have found favor with God. 31 And behold, ^fyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^gyou shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of ^hthe Most High. And the Lord God ⁱwill give to him the throne of ^jhis father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^kforever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”⁴

35 And the angel answered her, ^l“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^hthe Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born⁵ will be called ^mholy—ⁿthe Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^owho was called barren. 37 For ^pnothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant⁶ of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^qthe angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^rthe hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ^swas filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^t“Blessed are you among women, and ^ublessed is ^vthe fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^wmy Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And ^xblessed is she who believed that there would be⁷ a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

46 And Mary said,

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ^shad shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And ^ton the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; ^uhe shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And ^vthey made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for ^wa writing tablet and wrote, ^u“His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 ^xAnd immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^yloosed, and he spoke, ^zblessing God. 65 And ^afear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^bthe hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them ^claid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^dthe hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah ^ewas filled with the Holy Spirit and ^fprophesied, saying,

80 ^jAnd the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ^kin the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.