Gabriel Predicts Jesus’s Birth

²⁶ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel^(A) was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,^{(B) 27} to a virgin engaged^[a](C) to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.^(D) The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”^{[b] 29} But she was deeply troubled^(E) by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. ³⁰ Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,^(F) for you have found favor with God.^{(G) 31} Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.^{(H) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,^(I) and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.^{(J) 33} He will reign over the house of Jacob^(K) forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” ^(L)

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” ^[c]

³⁵ The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,^(M) and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.^{(N) 36} And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”^(O)

³⁸ “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Titus’s Ministry in Crete

⁵ The reason I left you in Crete^(A) was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders^(B) in every town. ⁶ An elder^(C) must be blameless,^(D) the husband of one wife, with faithful^[a] children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. ⁷ As an overseer^(E) of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding to the faithful message as taught,^(F) so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching^(G) and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. ¹¹ It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly. ¹² One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true.^(H) For this reason, rebuke them sharply,^(I) so that they may be sound in the faith ¹⁴ and may not pay attention to Jewish myths^(J) and the commands of people who reject the truth.^(K)

¹⁵ To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience^(L) are defiled. ¹⁶ They claim to know God,^(M) but they deny him by their works.^(N) They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.^(O)

Deborah and Barak

4 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud had died. ² So the Lord sold them to King Jabin^(A) of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.^(B) The commander of his army was Sisera^(C) who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.^{[a] 3} Then the Israelites cried out^(D) to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them twenty years.

⁴ Deborah, a prophetess^(E) and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.^(F)

⁶ She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel,^(G) commanded you, ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor,^(H) and take with you ten thousand men from the Naphtalites^(I) and Zebulunites?^{(J) 7} Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon^(K) to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’”^(L)

⁸ Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

⁹ “I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab,^(M) Moses’s father-in-law,^(N) and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim,^(O) which was near Kedesh.

¹² It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor. ¹³ Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon. ¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

¹⁵ The Lord threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into a panic^(P) before Barak’s assault. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot. ¹⁶ Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸ Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. ¹⁹ He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. ²⁰ Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” ²¹ While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife, Jael, took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.

²² When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!

²³ That day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. ²⁴ The power of the Israelites continued to increase against King Jabin of Canaan until they destroyed him.