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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Oliver: Welcome to Immerse Luke
and Acts, Day three, Week one
.
Volume 1 of Luke, Acts.
The Gospel according to Luke.
Many people have set out to write
accounts about the events that
have been fulfilled among us.
They use the eyewitness
reports circulating among
us from the early disciples.
Having carefully investigated everything
from the beginning, I also have
decided to write an accurate account
for you, most honorable Theophilus,
so you can be certain of the truth
of everything you were taught.
When Herod was king of Judea, there
was a Jewish priest named Zechariah.
He was a member of the priestly order
of Abijah, and his wife Elizabeth was
also from the priestly line of Aaron.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous
in God's eyes, careful to obey all of
the Lord's commandments and regulations.
They had no children because
Elizabeth was unable to conceive,
and they were both very old.
One day Zechariah was serving
God in the temple, for his
order was on duty that week.
As was the custom of the priests,
he was chosen by lot to enter the
sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
While the incense was being burned,
a great crowd stood outside praying.
While Zechariah was in the
sanctuary, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him, standing to
the right of the incense altar.
Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed
with fear when he saw him, but the
angel said, Don't be afraid, Zechariah.
God has heard your prayer.
Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you
a son, and you are to name him John.
You will have great joy and gladness, and
many will rejoice at his birth, for he
will be great in the eyes of the Lord.
He must never touch wine
or other alcoholic drinks.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Even before his birth, and he will turn
many Israelites to the Lord their God.
He will be a man with the
spirit and power of Elijah.
He will prepare the people
for the coming of the Lord.
He will turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children, and he
will cause those who are rebellious
to accept the wisdom of the godly.
Zechariah said to the angel, How
can I be sure this will happen?
I am an old man now, and my wife
is also well along in years.
Then the angel said, I am Gabriel.
I stand in the very presence of God.
It was he who sent me to
bring you this good news.
But now, since you didn't believe
what I said, you will be silent and
unable to speak until the child is
born, for my words will certainly
be fulfilled at the proper time.
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for
Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary,
wondering why he was taking so long.
When he finally did come out,
he couldn't speak to them.
Then they realized from his gestures
and his silence that he must have
seen a vision in the sanctuary.
When Zechariah's week of service in
the temple was over, he returned home.
Soon afterward, his wife,
Elizabeth, became pregnant and went
into seclusion for five months.
How kind the Lord is, she exclaimed.
He has taken away my disgrace
of having no children.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's
pregnancy, God sent the angel
Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in
Galilee, to a virgin named Mary.
She was engaged to be married to a man
named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
Gabriel appeared to her and
said, Greetings, favored woman.
The Lord is with you.
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried
to think what the angel could mean.
Don't be afraid, Mary, the angel told
her, for you have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to
a son, and you will name him Jesus.
He will be very great, and will be
called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the
throne of his ancestor David, and
he will reign over Israel forever.
His kingdom will never
end, Mary asked the angel.
But how can this happen?
I am a virgin.
The angel replied, The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you.
So the baby to be born will be holy,
and he will be called the Son of God.
What's more, your relative Elizabeth
has become pregnant in her old age.
People used to say she was barren,
but she has conceived a son,
and is now in her sixth month.
For the word of God will never fail.
Mary responded, I am the Lord's servant.
May everything you have
said about me come true.
And then the angel left her.
A few days later, Mary hurried
to the hill country of Judea, to
the town where Zechariah lived.
She entered the house
and greeted Elizabeth.
At the sound of Mary's greeting,
Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to
Mary, God has blessed you above all women.
and your child is blessed.
Why am I so honored that the
mother of my Lord should visit me?
When I heard your greeting, the
baby in my womb jumped for joy.
You are blessed because you believed
that the Lord would do what he said.
Mary responded.
Oh, how my soul praises the Lord!
How my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior!
For He took notice of His lowly
servant girl, and from now on all
generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy, and
He has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to
generation, to all who fear Him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things.
He has scattered the
proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from
their thrones and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel and
remembered to be merciful, for he
made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth
about three months.
And then went back to her own home.
When it was time for Elizabeth's baby
to be born, she gave birth to a son.
And when her neighbors and relatives
heard that the Lord had been very merciful
to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
When the baby was eight days old, they
all came for the circumcision ceremony.
They wanted to name him
Zechariah, after his father.
But Elizabeth said, No, his name is John.
What?
they exclaimed.
There was no one in all
your family by that name.
So they used gestures to ask the baby's
father what he wanted to name him.
He motioned for a writing tablet,
and to everyone's surprise,
he wrote, His name is John.
Instantly, Zechariah could speak
again, and he began praising God.
Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood,
and the news of what had happened
spread throughout the Judean hills.
Everyone who heard about it reflected
on these events and asked, What
will this child turn out to be?
For the hand of the Lord was
surely upon him in a special way.
Then his father, Zechariah, was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and
gave this prophecy Praise the Lord,
the God of Israel, because He has
visited and redeemed His people.
He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of His servant
David, just as He promised through
His holy prophets long ago.
Now we will be saved from our
enemies and from all who hate us.
He has been merciful to our
ancestors by remembering his sacred
covenant, the covenant he swore with
an oath to our ancestor Abraham.
We have been rescued from our enemies so
we can serve God without fear, in holiness
and righteousness for as long as we live.
And you, my little son, will be called
the prophet of the Most High, because
you will prepare the way for the Lord.
You will tell His people how
to find salvation through
forgiveness of their sins.
Because of God's tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven
is about to break upon us.
To give light to those who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.
John grew up and became strong in spirit,
and he lived in the wilderness until
he began his public ministry to Israel.
Oliver: This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.