Luke 1:17-2:6

English Standard Version

¹⁷ and ^(A)he will go before him ^(B)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(C)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(D)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(E)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(F)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am ^(G)Gabriel. ^(H)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, ^(I)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(J)the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(K)the temple. And ^(L)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(M)when his time of ^(N)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(O)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(P)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(Q)Nazareth, ^27 (R)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(S)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(T)O favored one, ^(U)the Lord is with you!”^{[b] 29} But ^(V)she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(W)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(X)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(Y)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(Z)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(AA)will give to him the throne of ^(AB)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(AC)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”^[c]

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(AD)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(AE)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(AF)holy—^(AG)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^(AH)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(AI)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(AJ)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(AK)the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ^(AL)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(AM)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(AN)blessed is ^(AO)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(AP)my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(AQ)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[f] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ^(BO)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And ^(BP)on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; ^(BQ)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And ^(BR)they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for ^(BS)a writing tablet and wrote, ^(BT)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ^64 (BU)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^(BV)loosed, and he spoke, ^(BW)blessing God. ⁶⁵ And ^(BX)fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^(BY)the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them ^(BZ)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(CA)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(CB)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(CC)prophesied, saying,

^80 (DG)And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ^(DH)in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(DI)a decree went out from ^(DJ)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(DK)registered. ² This was the first ^(DL)registration when^[h] Quirinius ^(DM)was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(DN)from Galilee, from the town of ^(DO)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(DP)the city of David, which is called ^(DQ)Bethlehem, ^(DR)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[i] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(DS)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.