¹Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

¹የከበርህ ቴዎፍሎስ ሆይ፥ ከመጀመሪያው በዓይን ያዩትና የቃሉ አገልጋዮች የሆኑት እንዳስተላለፉልን፥ በኛ ዘንድ ስለ ተፈጸመው ነገር ብዙዎች ታሪክን በየተራው ለማዘጋጀት ስለ ሞከሩ፥ እኔ ደግሞ ስለ ተማርኸው ቃል እርግጡን እንድታውቅ በጥንቃቄ ሁሉን ከመጀመሪያው ተከትዬ በየተራው ልጽፍልህ መልካም ሆኖ ታየኝ።

²Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

⁵በይሁዳ ንጉሥ በሄሮድስ ዘመን ከአብያ ክፍል የሆነ ዘካርያስ የሚባል አንድ ካህን ነበረ፤ ሚስቱም ከአሮን ልጆች ነበረች፥ ስምዋም ኤልሳቤጥ ነበረ።

³It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

⁶ሁለቱም በጌታ ትእዛዝና ሕግጋት ሁሉ ያለ ነቀፋ እየሄዱ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ጻድቃን ነበሩ።

⁴That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

⁷ኤልሳቤጥም መካን ነበረችና ልጅ አልነበራቸውም፤ ሁለቱም በዕድሜያቸው አርጅተው ነበር።

⁵THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

⁸እርሱም በክፍሉ ተራ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ሲያገለግል፥

⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

⁹እንደ ካህናት ሥርዓት ወደ ጌታ ቤተ መቅደስ ገብቶ ለማጠን ዕጣ ደረሰበት።

⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

¹⁰በዕጣንም ጊዜ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ በውጭ ቆመው ይጸልዩ ነበር።

⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

¹¹የጌታም መልአክ በዕጣኑ መሠዊያ ቀኝ ቆሞ ታየው።

⁹According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

¹²ዘካርያስም ባየው ጊዜ ደነገጠ፥ ፍርሃትም ወደቀበት።

¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

¹³መልአኩም እንዲህ አለው። ዘካርያስ ሆይ፥ ጸሎትህ ተሰምቶልሃልና አትፍራ ሚስትህ ኤልሳቤጥም ወንድ ልጅ ትወልድልሃለች፥ ስሙንም ዮሐንስ ትለዋለህ።

¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

¹⁴ደስታና ተድላም ይሆንልሃል፥ በመወለዱም ብዙዎች ደስ ይላቸዋል።

¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

¹⁵በጌታ ፊት ታላቅ ይሆናልና፥ የወይን ጠጅና የሚያሰክር መጠጥ አይጠጣም፤ ገናም በእናቱ ማኅፀን ሳለ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ይሞላበታል፤

¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

¹⁶ከእስራኤልም ልጆች ብዙዎችን ወደ ጌታ ወደ አምላካቸው ይመልሳል።

¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

¹⁷እርሱም የተዘጋጁትን ሕዝብ ለጌታ እንዲያሰናዳ፥ የአባቶችን ልብ ወደ ልጆች የማይታዘዙትንም ወደ ጻድቃን ጥበብ ይመልስ ዘንድ በኤልያስ መንፈስና ኃይል በፊቱ ይሄዳል።

¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁸ዘካርያስም መልአኩን። እኔ ሽማግሌ ነኝ ምስቴም በዕድሜዋ አርጅታለችና ይህን በምን አውቃለሁ? አለው።

¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

¹⁹መልአኩም መልሶ። እኔ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት የምቆመው ገብርኤል ነኝ፥ እንድናገርህም ይህችንም የምሥራች እንድሰብክልህ ተልኬ ነበር፤

¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

²⁰እነሆም፥ በጊዜው የሚፈጸመውን ቃሌን ስላላመንህ፥ ይህ ነገር እስከሚሆን ቀን ድረስ ዲዳ ትሆናለህ መናገርም አትችልም አለው።

¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

²¹ሕዝቡም ዘካርያስን ይጠብቁት ነበር፤ በቤተ መቅደስም ውስጥ ስለ ዘገየ ይደነቁ ነበር።

¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

²²በወጣም ጊዜ ሊነግራቸው አልቻለም፥ በቤተ መቅደስም ራእይ እንዳየ አስተዋሉ፤ እርሱም ይጠቅሳቸው ነበር፤ ድዳም ሆኖ ኖረ።

²⁰And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

²³የማገልገሉም ወራት ሲፈጸም ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ።

²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

²⁴ከዚህም ወራት በኋላ ሚስቱ ኤልሳቤጥ ፀነሰችና። ነቀፌታዬን ከሰው መካከል ያስወግድልኝ ዘንድ ጌታ በተመለከተበት ወራት እንዲህ አድርጎልኛል ስትል ራስዋን አምስት ወር ሰወረች።

²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

²⁶በስድስተኛውም ወር መልአኩ ገብርኤል ናዝሬት ወደምትባል ወደ ገሊላ ከተማ፥

²³And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

²⁷ከዳዊት ወገን ለሆነው ዮሴፍ ለሚባል ሰው ወደ ታጨች ወደ አንዲት ድንግል ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ተላከ፥ የድንግሊቱም ስም ማርያም ነበረ።

²⁴And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

²⁸መልአኩም ወደ እርስዋ ገብቶ። ደስ ይበልሽ፥ ጸጋ የሞላብሽ ሆይ፥ ጌታ ከአንቺ ጋር ነው፤ አንቺ ከሴቶች መካከል የተባረክሽ ነሽ አላት።

²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

²⁹እርስዋም ባየችው ጊዜ ከንግግሩ በጣም ደነገጠችና። ይህ እንዴት ያለ ሰላምታ ነው? ብላ አሰበች።

²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

³⁰መልአኩም እንዲህ አላት። ማርያም ሆይ፥ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ጸጋ አግኝተሻልና አትፍሪ።

²⁷To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

³¹እነሆም፥ ትፀንሻለሽ ወንድ ልጅም ትወልጃለሽ፥ ስሙንም ኢየሱስ ትዪዋለሽ።

²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

³²እርሱ ታላቅ ይሆናል የልዑል ልጅም ይባላል፥ ጌታ አምላክም የአባቱን የዳዊትን ዙፋን ይሰጠዋል፤

²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

³³በያዕቆብ ቤትም ላይ ለዘለላም ይነግሣል፥ ለመንግሥቱም መጨረሻ የለውም።

³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

³⁴ማርያምም መልአኩን። ወንድ ስለማላውቅ ይህ እንዴት ይሆናል? አለችው።

³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

³⁵መልአኩም መልሶ እንዲህ አላት። መንፈስ ቅዱስ በአንቺ ላይ ይመጣል፥ የልዑልም ኃይል ይጸልልሻል ስለዚህ ደግሞ ከአንቺ የሚወለደው ቅዱስ የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ይባላል።

³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

³⁶እነሆም ዘመድሽ ኤልሳቤጥ፥ እርስዋ ደግሞ በእርጅናዋ ወንድ ልጅ ፀንሳለች፥ ለእርስዋም መካን ትባል ለነበረችው ይህ ስድስተኛ ወር ነው፤

³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

³⁷ለእግዚአብሔር የሚሳነው ነገር የለምና።

³⁴Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

³⁸ማርያምም። እነሆኝ የጌታ ባሪያ እንደ ቃልህ ይሁንልኝ አለች። መልአኩም ከእርስዋ ሄደ።

³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

³⁹ማርያምም በዚያ ወራት ተነሥታ ወደ ተራራማው አገር ወደ ይሁዳ ከተማ ፈጥና ወጣች፥

³⁶And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

⁴⁰ወደ ዘካርያስም ቤት ገብታ ኤልሳቤጥን ተሳለመቻት።

³⁷For with God nothing shall be impossible.

⁴¹ኤልሳቤጥም የማርያምን ሰላምታ በሰማች ጊዜ ፅንሱ በማኅፀንዋ ውስጥ ዘለለ፤ በኤልሳቤጥም መንፈስ ቅዱስ ሞላባት፥

³⁸And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

⁴²በታላቅ ድምፅም ጮኻ እንዲህ አለች። አንቺ ከሴቶች መካከል የተባረክሽ ነሽ፥ የማኅፀንሽም ፍሬ የተባረከ ነው።

³⁹And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

⁴³የጌታዬ እናት ወደ እኔ ትመጣ ዘንድ እንዴት ይሆንልኛል?

⁴⁰And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

⁴⁴እነሆ፥ የሰላምታሽ ድምጽ በጆሮዬ በመጣ ጊዜ ፅንሱ በማኅፀኔ በደስታ ዘሎአልና።

⁴¹And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

⁴⁵ከጌታ፤ የተነገረላት ቃል ይፈጸማልና ያመነች ብፅዕት ናት።

⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

⁴⁶ማርያምም እንዲህ አለች።

⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁷ነፍሴ ጌታን ታከብረዋለች፥ መንፈሴም በአምላኬ በመድኃኒቴ ሐሴት ታደርጋለች፤

⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

⁴⁸የባሪያይቱን ውርደት ተመልክቶአልና። እነሆም፥ ከዛሬ ጀምሮ ትውልድ ሁሉ ብፅዕት ይሉኛል፤

⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

⁴⁹ብርቱ የሆነ እርሱ በእኔ ታላቅ ሥራ አድርጎአልና፤ ስሙም ቅዱስ ነው።

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

⁵⁰ምሕረቱም ለሚፈሩት እስከ ትውልድና ትውልድ ይኖራል።

⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁵¹በክንዱ ኃይል አድርጎአል፤ ትዕቢተኞችን በልባቸው አሳብ በትኖአል፤

⁴⁸For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁵²ገዥዎችን ከዙፋናቸው አዋርዶአል፤ ትሑታንንም ከፍ አድርጎአል፤

⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

⁵³የተራቡትን በበጎ ነገር አጥግቦአል፤ ባለ ጠጎችንም ባዶአቸውን ሰዶአቸዋል።

⁵⁰And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

⁵⁴ለአባቶቻችን እንደ ተናገረ፥ ለአብርሃምና ለዘሩ ለዘላለም ምሕረቱ ትዝ እያለው እስራኤልን ብላቴናውን ረድቶአል።

⁵¹He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

⁵⁶ማርያምም ሦስት ወር የሚያህል በእርስዋ ዘንድ ተቀመጠች ወደ ቤትዋም ተመለሰች።

⁵²He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

⁵⁷የኤልሳቤጥም የመውለጃዋ ጊዜ ደረሰ፥ ወንድ ልጅም ወለደች።

⁵³He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

⁵⁸ጎረቤቶችዋም ዘመዶችዋም ጌታ ምሕረቱን እንዳገነነላት ሰምተው ከእርስዋ ጋር ደስ አላቸው።

⁵⁴He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

⁵⁹በስምንተኛውም ቀን ሕፃኑን ሊገርዙት መጡ፥ በአባቱም ስም ዘካርያስ ሊሉት ወደዱ።

⁵⁵As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

⁶⁰እናቱ ግን መልሳ። አይሆንም፥ ዮሐንስ ይባል እንጂ አለች።

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

⁶¹እነርሱም። ከወገንሽ ማንም በዚህ ስም የተጠራ የለም አሉአት።

⁵⁷Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

⁶²አባቱንም ማን ሊባል እንዲወድ ጠቀሱት።

⁵⁸And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

⁶³ብራናም ለምኖ። ስሙ ዮሐንስ ነው ብሎ ጻፈ። ሁሉም አደነቁ።

⁵⁹And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

⁶⁴ያንጊዜም አፉ ተከፈተ መላሱም ተፈታ እግዚአብሔርንም እየባረከ ተናገረ።

⁶⁰And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

⁶⁵ለጎረቤቶቻቸውም ሁሉ ፍርሃት ሆነ፤ ይህም ሁሉ ነገር በይሁዳ በተራራማው አገር ሁሉ ተወራ፤

⁶¹And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

⁶⁶የሰሙትም ሁሉ። እንኪያ ይህ ሕፃን ምን ይሆን? እያሉ በልባቸው አኖሩት፤ የጌታ እጅ ከእርሱ ጋር ነበረችና።

⁶²And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

⁶⁷አባቱ ዘካርያስም መንፈስ ቅዱስ ሞላበትና ትንቢት ተናገረ እንዲህም አለ።

⁶³And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

⁶⁸የእስራኤል ጌታ አምላክ ይባረክ፥ ጐብኝቶ ለሕዝቡ ቤዛ አድርጎአልና፤

⁶⁴And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

⁶⁹ከጥንት ጀምሮ በነበሩት በቅዱሳን ነቢያት አፍ እንደ ተናገረ፥ በብላቴናው በዳዊት ቤት የመዳን ቀንድን አስነስቶልናል፤

⁶⁵And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.

⁷¹ማዳኑም ከወደረኞቻችንና ከሚጠሉን ሁሉ እጅ ነው፤

⁶⁶And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁷²እንደዚህ ለአባቶቻችን ምሕረት አደረገ፤ ለአባታችን ለአብርሃምም የማለውን መሐላውን ቅዱሱን ኪዳን አሰበ፤

⁶⁷And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

⁷⁴በእርሱም ከጠላቶቻችን እጅ ድነን በዘመናችን ሁሉ ያለ ፍርሃት በቅድስናና በጽድቅ በፊቱ እንድናገለግለው ሰጠን።

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

⁷⁶ደግሞም አንተ ሕፃን ሆይ፥ የልዑል ነቢይ ትባላለህ፥ መንገዱን ልትጠርግ በጌታ ፊት ትሄዳለህና፤

⁶⁹And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

⁷⁷እንደዚህም የኃጢአታቸው ስርየት የሆነውን የመዳን እውቀት ለሕዝቡ ትሰጣለህ፤

⁷⁰As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

⁷⁸ይህም ከላይ የመጣ ብርሃን በጐበኘበት በአምላካችን ምሕረትና ርኅራኄ ምክንያት ነው፤

⁷¹That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

⁷⁹ብርሃኑም በጨለማና በሞት ጥላ ተቀምጠው ላሉት ያበራል እግሮቻችንንም በሰላም መንገድ ያቀናል።

⁷²To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

⁸⁰ሕፃኑም አደገ በመንፈስም ጠነከረ፥ ለእስራኤልም እስከ ታየበት ቀን ድረስ በምድረ በዳ ኖረ።

⁷³The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

⁷⁴That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

⁷⁵In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

⁷⁷To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

⁷⁸Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

⁷⁹To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

⁸⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.