1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2 even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent The-oph´ilus,
4 that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechari´ah, of the course of Abi´jah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.