Luk 1, Luk 13 | ESV | STEP | Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us ,

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, ^{▼▼Greek Zacharias} ^oof ^pthe division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both ^qrighteous before God, walking ^rblamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because ^sElizabeth was barren, and ^tboth were advanced in years.

8 Now ^uwhile he was serving as priest before God when ^vhis division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^wto enter ^xthe temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people ^ywere praying ^zoutside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^aathe altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^abfear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^acyour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^adyou shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^aerejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be ^afgreat before the Lord. And ^aghe must not drink wine or strong ^ahdrink, and ^aihe will be ^ajfilled with the Holy Spirit, ^akeven from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and ^alhe will go before him ^amin the spirit and power of Elijah, ^anto turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^aothe disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^apto make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, ^aq“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 ^arGabriel. ^asI stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, ^atyou 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 ^authe temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^avthe temple. And ^awhe kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And ^axwhen his time of ^ayservice 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, ^azto take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel ^baGabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^bbNazareth, 27 ^bcto a virgin betrothed ^{▼▼That is, legally pledged to be married} to a man whose name was Joseph, ^beof the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^bfO favored one, ^bgthe Lord is with you!” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add Blessed are you among women!} 29 But ^bishe 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 ^bjyou have found favor with God. 31 And behold, ^bkyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^blyou shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of ^bmthe Most High. And the Lord God ^bnwill give to him the throne of ^bohis father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^bpforever, 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?” ^{▼▼Greek since I do not know a man}

35 And the angel answered her, ^br“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^bsthe Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add of you} will be called ^buholy— ^bvthe 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 ^bwwho was called barren. 37 For ^bxnothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant ^{▼▼Greek bondservant; also verse 48} of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^bzthe angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^cathe 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 ^cbwas filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^cc“Blessed are you among women, and ^cdblessed is ^cethe fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^cfmy 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 ^cgblessed is she who believed that there would be ^{▼▼Or believed, for there will be} a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

46 And Mary said,

^ci“My ^cjsoul ^ckmagnifies the Lord,
47 ^cland my ^cmspirit rejoices in ^cnGod my Savior,
48 for ^cohe has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations ^cpwill call me blessed;
49 for ^cqhe who is mighty ^crhas done great things for me,
and ^csholy is his name.
50 And ^cthis mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 ^cuHe has shown strength with his arm;
^cvhe has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 ^cwhe has brought down the mighty from their thrones
^cxand exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled ^cythe hungry with good things,
and the rich ^czhe has sent away empty.
54 He has ^dahelped ^dbhis servant Israel,
^dcin remembrance of his mercy,
55 ^ddas he spoke to our fathers,
^deto Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
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 ^dfhad shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And ^dgon 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; ^dhhe shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And ^dithey made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for ^dja writing tablet and wrote, ^dk“His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 ^dlAnd immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^dmloosed, and he spoke, ^dnblessing God. 65 And ^dofear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^dpthe hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them ^dqlaid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^drthe hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah ^dswas filled with the Holy Spirit and ^dtprophesied, saying,

68 ^du“Blessed be the Lord ^dvGod of Israel,
for he has ^dwvisited and ^dxredeemed his people
69 and ^dyhas raised up ^dza horn of salvation for us
^eain the house of his servant David,
70 ^ebas ^eche spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 ^edthat we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 ^eeto show the mercy promised to our fathers
and ^efto remember his holy ^egcovenant,
73 ^ehthe oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him ^eiwithout fear,
75 ^ejin holiness and righteousness before him ^ekall our days.
76 And you, child, will be called ^elthe prophet of ^emthe Most High;
for ^enyou will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
^eoin the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the ^eptender mercy of our God,
whereby ^eqthe sunrise shall ^ervisit us ^{▼▼Or when the sunrise shall dawn upon us; some manuscripts since the sunrise has visited us} ^etfrom on high
79 to ^eugive light to ^evthose who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into ^ewthe way of ^expeace.”
80 ^eyAnd the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ^ezin the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Luke 13

Repent or Perish

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood ^faPilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, ^fb“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you ^fcrepent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in ^fdSiloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you ^ferepent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 And he told this parable: “A man had ^ffa fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ^fgCut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit

10 Now ^fhhe was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had ^fia disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he ^fjlaid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she ^fkglorified God. 14 But ^flthe ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus ^fmhad healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, ^fn“There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! ^foDoes not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, ^fpa daughter of Abraham whom ^fqSatan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, ^frall his adversaries were put to shame, and ^fsall the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

18 ^ftHe said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like ^fua grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 ^fvIt is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^fwthree measures of flour, until it was ^fxall leavened.”

The Narrow Door

22 ^fyHe went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and ^fzjourneying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, ^gawill those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 ^gb“Strive ^gcto enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 ^gdWhen once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ^ge‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ^gf‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ^gg‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, ^ghI do not know where you come from. ^giDepart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 ^gjIn that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see ^gkAbraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but ^glyou yourselves cast out. 29 And ^gmpeople will come from east and west, and from north and south, and ^gnrecline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, ^gosome are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from ^gphere, for ^gqHerod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day ^grI finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, ^gsI ^gtmust go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ^gua prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 ^gvO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^gwkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! ^gxHow often would I have ^gygathered ^gzyour children together ^haas a hen gathers her brood ^hbunder her wings, and ^hcyou were not willing! 35 Behold, ^hdyour house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ^he‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”