The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

And he schal conuerte many of the children of Israel to her Lord God;

and he schal go bifor hym in the spirit and the vertu of Helie; and he schal turne the hertis of the fadris in to the sones, and men out of bileue to the prudence of iust men, to make redi a perfit puple to the Lord.

And Zacarie seide to the aungel, Wherof schal Y wite this? for Y am eld, and my wijf hath gon fer in to hir daies.

And the aungel answeride, and seide to hym, For Y am Gabriel, that stonde niy bifor God; and Y am sent to thee to speke, and to euangelize to thee these thingis.

And lo! thou schalt be doumbe, and thou schalt not mow speke til in to the dai, in which these thingis schulen be don; for thou hast not bileued to my wordis, whiche schulen be fulfillid in her tyme.

And the puple was abidynge Zacarie, and thei wondriden, that he tariede in the temple.

And he yede out, and myyte not speke to hem, and thei knewen that he hadde seyn a visioun in the temple. And he bikenyde to hem, and he dwellide stille doumbe.

And it was don, whanne the daies of his office weren fulfillid, he wente in to his hous.

And aftir these daies Elizabeth, his wijf, conseyuede, and hidde hir fyue monethis, and seide,

For so the Lord dide to me in the daies, in whiche he bihelde, to take awei my repreef among men.

But in the sixte moneth the aungel Gabriel was sent fro God in to a citee of Galilee, whos name was Nazareth,

to a maidyn, weddid to a man, whos name was Joseph, of the hous of Dauid; and the name of the maidun was Marie.

And the aungel entride to hir, and seide, Heil, ful of grace; the Lord be with thee; blessid be thou among wymmen.

And whanne sche hadde herd, sche was troublid in his word, and thouyte what maner salutacioun this was.

And the aungel seide to hir, Ne drede thou not, Marie, for thou hast foundun grace anentis God.

Lo! thou schalt conceyue in wombe, and schalt bere a sone, and thou schalt clepe his name Jhesus.

This schal be greet, and he schal be clepid the sone of the Hiyeste; and the Lord God schal yeue to hym the seete of Dauid, his fadir, and he schal regne in the hous of Jacob with outen ende,

and of his rewme schal be noon ende.

And Marie seide to the aungel, On what maner schal this thing be doon, for Y knowe not man?

And the aungel answeride, and seide to hir, The Hooly Goost schal come fro aboue in to thee, and the vertu of the Hiyeste schal ouerschadewe thee; and therfor that hooli thing that schal be borun of thee, schal be clepid the sone of God.

And lo! Elizabeth, thi cosyn, and sche also hath conceyued a sone in hir eelde, and this moneth is the sixte to hir that is clepid bareyn;

for euery word schal not be inpossible anentis God.

And Marie seide, Lo! the handmaydyn of the Lord; be it don to me aftir thi word. And the aungel departide fro hir.

And Marie roos vp in tho daies, and wente with haaste in to the mounteyns, in to a citee of Judee.

And sche entride in to the hous of Zacarie, and grette Elizabeth.

And it was don, as Elizabeth herde the salutacioun of Marie, the yong child in hir wombe gladide. And Elizabeth was fulfillid with the Hooli Goost,

and criede with a greet vois, and seide, Blessid be thou among wymmen, and blessid be the fruyt of thi wombe.

And whereof is this thing to me, that the modir of my Lord come to me?

For lo! as the voice of thi salutacioun was maad in myn eeris, the yong child gladide in ioye in my wombe.

And blessid be thou, that hast bileued, for thilke thingis that ben seid of the Lord to thee, schulen be parfitli don.

And Marie seide, Mi soule magnyfieth the Lord,

and my spirit hath gladid in God, myn helthe.

For he hath biholdun the mekenesse of his handmaidun.

For lo! of this alle generaciouns schulen seie that Y am blessid. For he that is myyti hath don to me grete thingis, and his name is hooli.

And his mercy is fro kynrede in to kynredes, to men that dreden hym.

He made myyt in his arme, he scaterede proude men with the thouyte of his herte.

He sette doun myyti men fro sete, and enhaunside meke men.

He hath fulfillid hungri men with goodis, and he hath left riche men voide.

He, hauynge mynde of his mercy, took Israel, his child;

as he hath spokun to oure fadris, to Abraham and to his seed, in to worldis.

And Marie dwellide with hir, as it were thre monethis, and turnede ayen in to hir hous.

But the tyme of beryng child was fulfillid to Elizabeth, and sche bare a sone.

And the neiyboris and cosyns of hir herden, that the Lord hadde magnyfied his mercy with hir; and thei thankiden hym.

And it was don in the eiyte dai, thei camen to circumcide the child; and thei clepiden hym Zacarie, bi the name of his fadir.

And his moder answeride, and seide, Nay, but he schal be clepid Joon.

And thei seiden to hir, For no man is in thi kynrede, that is clepid this name.

And thei bikeneden to his fadir, what he wolde that he were clepid.

And he axynge a poyntil, wroot, seiynge, Joon is his name.

And alle men wondriden. And anoon his mouth was openyd, and his tunge, and he spak, and blesside God.

And drede was maad on alle her neiyboris, and alle these wordis weren pupplischid on alle the mounteyns of Judee.

And alle men that herden puttiden in her herte, and seiden, What maner child schal this be? For the hoond of the Lord was with hym.

And Zacarie, his fadir, was fulfillid with the Hooli Goost, and prophesiede,

and seide, Blessid be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visitid, and maad redempcioun of his puple.

And he hath rerid to vs an horn of heelthe in the hous of Dauid, his child.

As he spak bi the mouth of hise hooli prophetis, that weren fro the world.

Helthe fro oure enemyes, and fro the hoond of alle men that hatiden vs.

To do merci with oure fadris, and to haue mynde of his hooli testament.

The greet ooth that he swoor to Abraham, oure fadir, to yyue hym silf to vs.

That we with out drede delyuered fro the hoond of oure enemyes,

serue to hym, in hoolynesse and riytwisnesse bifor hym in alle oure daies.

And thou, child, schalt be clepid the prophete of the Hiyest; for thou schalt go bifor the face of the Lord, to make redi hise weies.

To yyue scyence of helthe to his puple, in to remyssioun of her synnes;

bi the inwardnesse of the merci of oure God, in the whiche he spryngynge vp fro an hiy hath visitid vs.

To yyue liyt to hem that sitten in derknessis and in schadewe of deeth; to dresse oure feet in to the weie of pees.

And the child wexide, and was coumfortid in spirit, and was in desert placis `til to the dai of his schewing to Israel.

And it was don in tho daies, a maundement wente out fro the emperour August, that al the world schulde be discryued.

This firste discryuyng was maad of Cyryn, iustice of Sirie.

And alle men wenten to make professioun, ech in to his owne citee.

And Joseph wente vp fro Galilee, fro the citee Nazareth, in to Judee, in to a citee of Dauid, that is clepid Bethleem, for that he was of the hous and of the meyne of Dauid,

that he schulde knouleche with Marie, his wijf, that was weddid to hym, and was greet with child.

And it was don, while thei weren there, the daies weren fulfillid, that sche schulde bere child.

And sche bare hir first borun sone, and wlappide hym in clothis, and leide hym in a cratche, for ther was no place to hym in no chaumbir.

And scheepherdis weren in the same cuntre, wakynge and kepynge the watchis of the nyyt on her flok.

And lo! the aungel of the Lord stood bisidis hem, and the cleernesse of God schinede aboute hem; and thei dredden with greet drede.

And the aungel seide to hem, Nyle ye drede; for lo! Y preche to you a greet ioye, that schal be to al puple.

For a sauyoure is borun to dai to you, that is Crist the Lord, in the citee of Dauid.

And this is a tokene to you; ye schulen fynde a yong child wlappid in clothis, and leid in a cratche.

And sudenli ther was maad with the aungel a multitude of heuenli knyythod, heriynge God,

and seiynge, Glorie be in the hiyeste thingis to God, and in erthe pees be to men of good wille.

And it was don, as the `aungelis passiden awei fro hem in to heuene, the scheephirdis spaken togider, and seiden, Go we ouer to Bethleem, and se we this word that is maad, which the Lord hath `maad, and schewide to vs.

And thei hiyynge camen, and founden Marie and Joseph, and the yong child leid in a cratche.

And thei seynge, knewen of the word that was seid to hem of this child.

And alle men that herden wondriden, and of these thingis that weren seid to hem of the scheephirdis.

But Marie kepte alle these wordis, berynge togider in hir herte.

And the scheepherdis turneden ayen, glorifyinge and heriynge God in alle thingis that thei hadden herd and seyn, as it was seid to hem.

And aftir that the eiyte daies weren endid, that the child schulde be circumcided, his name was clepid Jhesus, which was clepid of the aungel, bifor that he was conceyued in the wombe.

And aftir that the daies of the purgacioun of Marie weren fulfillid, aftir Moyses lawe, thei token hym into Jerusalem, to offre hym to the Lord, as it is writun in the lawe of the Lord,

For euery male kynde openynge the wombe, schal be clepid holi to the Lord; and that thei schulen yyue an offryng,

aftir that it is seid in the lawe of the Lord, A peire of turturis, or twei culuer briddis.

And lo! a man was in Jerusalem, whos name was Symeon; and this man was iust and vertuous, and aboode the coumfort of Israel; and the Hooli Goost was in hym.

And he hadde takun an answere of the Hooli Goost, that he schulde not se deeth, but he sawy first the Crist of the Lord.

And he cam in spirit into the temple. And whanne his fadir and modir ledden the child Jhesu to do aftir the custom of the lawe for hym,

he took hym in to hise armes, and he blesside God,

and seide, Lord, now thou leuyst thi seruaunt aftir thi word in pees;

for myn iyen han seyn thin helthe,

which thou hast maad redi bifor the face of alle puplis;

liyt to the schewyng of hethene men, and glorie of thi puple Israel.

And his fadir and his modir weren wondrynge on these thingis, that weren seid of hym.

And Symeon blesside hem, and seide to Marie, his modir, Lo! this is set in to the fallyng doun and in to the risyng ayen of many men in Israel, and in to a tokene, to whom it schal be ayenseid.

And a swerd schal passe thorou thin owne soule, that the thouytis ben schewid of many hertis.