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።

¹Forasmuch as many have undertaken to draw up a relation concerning the matters fully believed among us,

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

²as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us,

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

³it has seemed good to *me* also, accurately acquainted from the origin with all things, to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus,

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

⁴that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed.

⁸እርሱም በክፍሉ ተራ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ሲያገለግል፥

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abia, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.

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

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

¹⁰በዕጣንም ጊዜ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ በውጭ ቆመው ይጸልዩ ነበር።

⁷And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

¹¹የጌታም መልአክ በዕጣኑ መሠዊያ ቀኝ ቆሞ ታየው።

⁸And it came to pass, as he fulfilled his priestly service before God in the order of his course,

¹²ዘካርያስም ባየው ጊዜ ደነገጠ፥ ፍርሃትም ወደቀበት።

⁹it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.

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

¹⁰And all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.

¹⁴ደስታና ተድላም ይሆንልሃል፥ በመወለዱም ብዙዎች ደስ ይላቸዋል።

¹¹And an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

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

¹²And Zacharias was troubled, seeing [him], and fear fell upon him.

¹⁶ከእስራኤልም ልጆች ብዙዎችን ወደ ጌታ ወደ አምላካቸው ይመልሳል።

¹³But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, because thy supplication has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

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

¹⁴And he shall be to thee joy and rejoicing, and many shall rejoice at his birth.

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

¹⁵For he shall be great before [the] Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with [the] Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

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

¹⁶And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to [the] Lord their God.

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

¹⁷And *he* shall go before him in [the] spirit and power of Elias, to turn hearts of fathers to children, and disobedient ones to [the] thoughts of just [men], to make ready for [the] Lord a prepared people.

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

¹⁸And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this, for *I* am an old man, and my wife advanced in years?

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

¹⁹And the angel answering, said to him, *I* am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to thee, and to bring these glad tidings to thee;

²³የማገልገሉም ወራት ሲፈጸም ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ።

²⁰and behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, till the day in which these things shall take place, because thou hast not believed my words, the which shall be fulfilled in their time.

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

²¹And the people were awaiting Zacharias, and they wondered at his delaying in the temple.

²⁶በስድስተኛውም ወር መልአኩ ገብርኤል ናዝሬት ወደምትባል ወደ ገሊላ ከተማ፥

²²But when he came out he could not speak to them, and they recognised that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he was making signs to them, and continued dumb.

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

²³And it came to pass, when the days of his service were completed, he departed to his house.

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

²⁴Now after these days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

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

²⁵Thus has [the] Lord done to me in [these] days in which he looked upon [me] to take away my reproach among men.

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

²⁶But in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent of God to a city of Galilee, of which [the] name [was] Nazareth,

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

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

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

²⁸And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, [thou] favoured one! the Lord [is] with thee: [blessed art *thou* amongst women].

³³በያዕቆብ ቤትም ላይ ለዘለላም ይነግሣል፥ ለመንግሥቱም መጨረሻ የለውም።

²⁹But she, [seeing] [the angel], was troubled at his word, and reasoned in her mind what this salutation might be.

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

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

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

³¹and behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

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

³²*He* shall be great, and shall be called Son of [the] Highest; and [the] Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;

³⁷ለእግዚአብሔር የሚሳነው ነገር የለምና።

³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for the ages, and of his kingdom there shall not be an end.

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

³⁴But Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man?

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

³⁵And the angel answering said to her, [The] Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of [the] Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.

⁴⁰ወደ ዘካርያስም ቤት ገብታ ኤልሳቤጥን ተሳለመቻት።

³⁶And behold, Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her that was called barren:

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

³⁷for nothing shall be impossible with God.

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

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

⁴³የጌታዬ እናት ወደ እኔ ትመጣ ዘንድ እንዴት ይሆንልኛል?

³⁹And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,

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

⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.

⁴⁵ከጌታ፤ የተነገረላት ቃል ይፈጸማልና ያመነች ብፅዕት ናት።

⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with [the] Holy Spirit,

⁴⁶ማርያምም እንዲህ አለች።

⁴²and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed [art] *thou* amongst women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb.

⁴⁷ነፍሴ ጌታን ታከብረዋለች፥ መንፈሴም በአምላኬ በመድኃኒቴ ሐሴት ታደርጋለች፤

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

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

⁴⁴For behold, as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb.

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

⁴⁵And blessed [is] she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from [the] Lord.

⁵⁰ምሕረቱም ለሚፈሩት እስከ ትውልድና ትውልድ ይኖራል።

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁵¹በክንዱ ኃይል አድርጎአል፤ ትዕቢተኞችን በልባቸው አሳብ በትኖአል፤

⁴⁷and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁵²ገዥዎችን ከዙፋናቸው አዋርዶአል፤ ትሑታንንም ከፍ አድርጎአል፤

⁴⁸For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁵³የተራቡትን በበጎ ነገር አጥግቦአል፤ ባለ ጠጎችንም ባዶአቸውን ሰዶአቸዋል።

⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done to me great things, and holy [is] his name;

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

⁵⁰and his mercy [is] to generations and generations to them that fear him.

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

⁵¹He has wrought strength with his arm; he has scattered haughty [ones] in the thought of their heart.

⁵⁷የኤልሳቤጥም የመውለጃዋ ጊዜ ደረሰ፥ ወንድ ልጅም ወለደች።

⁵²He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.

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

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty.

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

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant, in order to remember mercy,

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

⁵⁵(as he spoke to our fathers,) to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

⁶¹እነርሱም። ከወገንሽ ማንም በዚህ ስም የተጠራ የለም አሉአት።

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

⁶²አባቱንም ማን ሊባል እንዲወድ ጠቀሱት።

⁵⁷But the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth that she should bring forth, and she gave birth to a son.

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

⁵⁸And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that [the] Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁶⁴ያንጊዜም አፉ ተከፈተ መላሱም ተፈታ እግዚአብሔርንም እየባረከ ተናገረ።

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

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

⁶⁰And his mother answering said, No; but he shall be called John.

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

⁶¹And they said to her, There is no one among thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.

⁶⁷አባቱ ዘካርያስም መንፈስ ቅዱስ ሞላበትና ትንቢት ተናገረ እንዲህም አለ።

⁶²And they made signs to his father as to what he might wish it to be called.

⁶⁸የእስራኤል ጌታ አምላክ ይባረክ፥ ጐብኝቶ ለሕዝቡ ቤዛ አድርጎአልና፤

⁶³And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered.

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

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

⁷¹ማዳኑም ከወደረኞቻችንና ከሚጠሉን ሁሉ እጅ ነው፤

⁶⁵And fear came upon all who dwelt round about them; and in the whole hill-country of Judaea all these things were the subject of conversation.

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

⁶⁶And all who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then will this child be? And [the] Lord's hand was with him.

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

⁶⁷And Zacharias his father was filled with [the] Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

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

⁶⁸Blessed be [the] Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people,

⁷⁷እንደዚህም የኃጢአታቸው ስርየት የሆነውን የመዳን እውቀት ለሕዝቡ ትሰጣለህ፤

⁶⁹and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;

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

⁷⁰as he spoke by [the] mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began;

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

⁷¹deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us;

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

⁷²to fulfil mercy with our fathers and remember his holy covenant,

⁷³[the] oath which he swore to Abraham our father,

⁷⁴to give us, that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear

⁷⁵in piety and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And *thou*, child, shalt be called [the] prophet of [the] Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of [the] Lord to make ready his ways;

⁷⁷to give knowledge of deliverance to his people by [the] remission of their sins

⁷⁸on account of [the] bowels of mercy of our God; wherein [the] dayspring from on high has visited us,

⁷⁹to shine upon them who were sitting in darkness and in [the] shadow of death, to guide our feet into [the] way of peace.

⁸⁰-- And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit; and he was in the deserts until the day of his shewing to Israel.