¹Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured 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።

²as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers 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 also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus,

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

⁴that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed.

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

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;

⁸እርሱም በክፍሉ ተራ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ሲያገለግል፥

⁶and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses 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 both were advanced in their days.

¹⁰በዕጣንም ጊዜ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ በውጭ ቆመው ይጸልዩ ነበር።

⁸And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God,

¹¹የጌታም መልአክ በዕጣኑ መሠዊያ ቀኝ ቆሞ ታየው።

⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,

¹²ዘካርያስም ባየው ጊዜ ደነገጠ፥ ፍርሃትም ወደቀበት።

¹⁰and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.

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

¹¹And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume,

¹⁴ደስታና ተድላም ይሆንልሃል፥ በመወለዱም ብዙዎች ደስ ይላቸዋል።

¹²and Zacharias, having seen, was troubled, and fear fell on him;

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

¹³and the messenger said unto him, `Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John,

¹⁶ከእስራኤልም ልጆች ብዙዎችን ወደ ጌታ ወደ አምላካቸው ይመልሳል።

¹⁴and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy,

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 before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother`s womb;

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

¹⁶and many of the sons of Israel he shall 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 Elijah, to turn hearts of fathers unto children, and disobedient ones to the wisdom of righteous ones, to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared.`

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

¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the messenger, `Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?`

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

¹⁹And the messenger answering said to him, `I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee,

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

²⁰and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.`

²³የማገልገሉም ወራት ሲፈጸም ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ።

²¹And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,

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

²²and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb.

²⁶በስድስተኛውም ወር መልአኩ ገብርኤል ናዝሬት ወደምትባል ወደ ገሊላ ከተማ፥

²³And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his 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።

²⁵`Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon [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 was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth,

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

²⁷to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary.

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

²⁸And the messenger having come in unto her, said, `Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;`

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

²⁹and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be.

³³በያዕቆብ ቤትም ላይ ለዘለላም ይነግሣል፥ ለመንግሥቱም መጨረሻ የለውም።

³⁰And the messenger said to her, `Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;

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

³¹and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and 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 Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father,

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 to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.`

³⁷ለእግዚአብሔር የሚሳነው ነገር የለምና።

³⁴And Mary said unto the messenger, `How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?`

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

³⁵And the messenger answering said to her, `The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;

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

³⁶and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;

⁴⁰ወደ ዘካርያስም ቤት ገብታ ኤልሳቤጥን ተሳለመቻት።

³⁷because nothing shall be impossible with God.`

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

³⁸And Mary said, `Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,` and the messenger went away from her.

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

³⁹And Mary having arisen in those days, went to the hill-country, with haste, to a city of Judea,

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, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe did leap in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴⁵ከጌታ፤ የተነገረላት ቃል ይፈጸማልና ያመነች ብፅዕት ናት።

⁴²and 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 might come unto me?

⁴⁷ነፍሴ ጌታን ታከብረዋለች፥ መንፈሴም በአምላኬ በመድኃኒቴ ሐሴት ታደርጋለች፤

⁴⁴for, lo, when the voice of thy salutation came to my ears, leap in gladness did the babe in my womb;

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

⁴⁵and happy [is] she who did believe, for there shall be a completion to the things spoken to 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 was glad on God my Saviour,

⁵¹በክንዱ ኃይል አድርጎአል፤ ትዕቢተኞችን በልባቸው አሳብ በትኖአል፤

⁴⁸Because He looked on the lowliness of His maid-servant, For, lo, henceforth call me happy shall all the generations,

⁵²ገዥዎችን ከዙፋናቸው አዋርዶአል፤ ትሑታንንም ከፍ አድርጎአል፤

⁴⁹For He who is mighty did to me great things, And holy [is] His name,

⁵³የተራቡትን በበጎ ነገር አጥግቦአል፤ ባለ ጠጎችንም ባዶአቸውን ሰዶአቸዋል።

⁵⁰And His kindness [is] to generations of generations, To those fearing Him,

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

⁵¹He did powerfully with His arm, He scattered abroad the proud in the thought of their heart,

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

⁵²He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly,

⁵⁷የኤልሳቤጥም የመውለጃዋ ጊዜ ደረሰ፥ ወንድ ልጅም ወለደች።

⁵³The hungry He did fill with good, And the rich He sent away empty,

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

⁵⁴He received again Israel His servant, To remember kindness,

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

⁵⁵As He spake unto our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed — to the age.`

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

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months, and turned back to her house.

⁶¹እነርሱም። ከወገንሽ ማንም በዚህ ስም የተጠራ የለም አሉአት።

⁵⁷And to Elisabeth was the time fulfilled for her bringing forth, and she bare a son,

⁶²አባቱንም ማን ሊባል እንዲወድ ጠቀሱት።

⁵⁸and the neighbours and her kindred heard that the Lord was making His kindness great with her, and they were rejoicing with her.

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

⁵⁹And it came to pass, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias,

⁶⁴ያንጊዜም አፉ ተከፈተ መላሱም ተፈታ እግዚአብሔርንም እየባረከ ተናገረ።

⁶⁰and his mother answering said, `No, 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 among thy kindred who is called by this name,`

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

⁶²and they were making signs to his father, what he would wish him to be called,

⁶⁷አባቱ ዘካርያስም መንፈስ ቅዱስ ሞላበትና ትንቢት ተናገረ እንዲህም አለ።

⁶³and having asked for a tablet, he wrote, saying, `John is his name;` and they did all wonder;

⁶⁸የእስራኤል ጌታ አምላክ ይባረክ፥ ጐብኝቶ ለሕዝቡ ቤዛ አድርጎአልና፤

⁶⁴and his mouth was opened presently, and his tongue, and he was speaking, praising God.

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

⁶⁵And fear came upon all those dwelling around them, and in all the hill-country of Judea were all these sayings spoken of,

⁷¹ማዳኑም ከወደረኞቻችንና ከሚጠሉን ሁሉ እጅ ነው፤

⁶⁶and all who heard did lay them up in their hearts, saying, `What then shall this child be?` and the hand of the Lord was with him.

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

⁶⁷And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and did prophesy, saying,

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

⁶⁸`Blessed [is] the Lord, the God of Israel, Because He did look upon, And wrought redemption for His people,

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

⁶⁹And did raise an horn of salvation to us, In the house of David His servant,

⁷⁷እንደዚህም የኃጢአታቸው ስርየት የሆነውን የመዳን እውቀት ለሕዝቡ ትሰጣለህ፤

⁷⁰As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, Which have been from the age;

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

⁷¹Salvation from our enemies, And out of the hand of all hating us,

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

⁷²To do kindness with our fathers, And to be mindful of His holy covenant,

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

⁷³An oath that He sware to Abraham our father,

⁷⁴To give to us, without fear, Out of the hand of our enemies having been delivered,

⁷⁵To serve Him, in holiness and righteousness Before Him, all the days of our life.

⁷⁶And thou, child, Prophet of the Highest Shalt thou be called; For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, To prepare His ways.

⁷⁷To give knowledge of salvation to His people In remission of their sins,

⁷⁸Through the tender mercies of our God, In which the rising from on high did look upon us,

⁷⁹To give light to those sitting in darkness and death-shade, To guide our feet to a way of peace.`

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