Luke 1:5-56

English Standard Version

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{[a] (B)}of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both ^(D)righteous before God, walking ^(E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because ^(F)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(G)both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now ^(H)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(I)his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(J)to enter ^(K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people ^(L)were praying ^(M)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(N)the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(O)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(Q)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(R)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be ^(S)great before the Lord. And ^(T)he must not drink wine or strong ^(U)drink, and ^(V)he will be ^(W)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(X)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he will go before him ^(Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AD)“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 ^(AE)Gabriel. ^(AF)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, ^(AG)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 ^(AH)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 ^(AI)the temple. And ^(AJ)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(AK)when his time of ^(AL)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, ^(AM)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(AN)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(AO)Nazareth, ^27 (AP)to a virgin betrothed^[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(AQ)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(AR)O favored one, ^(AS)the Lord is with you!”^{[c] 29} But ^(AT)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 ^(AU)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(AV)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(AW)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AX)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(AY)will give to him the throne of ^(AZ)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(BA)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?”^[d]

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(BB)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(BC)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[e] will be called ^(BD)holy—^(BE)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 ^(BF)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(BG)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[f] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(BH)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(BI)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 ^(BJ)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(BK)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(BL)blessed is ^(BM)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(BN)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 ^(BO)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[g] 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.