Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel (A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named (B)Nazareth, 27 (C)to a virgin betrothed[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, (D)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, (E)O favored one, (F)the Lord is with you!”[b] 29 But (G)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 (H)you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, (I)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and (J)you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of (K)the Most High. And the Lord God (L)will give to him the throne of (M)his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob (N)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, (O)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of (P)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be called (Q)holy—(R)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 (S)who was called barren. 37 For (T)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 (U)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into (V)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 (W)was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, (X)“Blessed are you among women, and (Y)blessed is (Z)the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of (AA)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 (AB)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,

(AC)“My (AD)soul (AE)magnifies the Lord,
47     (AF)and my (AG)spirit rejoices in (AH)God my Savior,
48 for (AI)he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations (AJ)will call me blessed;
49 for (AK)he who is mighty (AL)has done great things for me,
    and (AM)holy is his name.
50 And (AN)his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 (AO)He has shown strength with his arm;
    (AP)he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 (AQ)he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    (AR)and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled (AS)the hungry with good things,
    and the rich (AT)he has sent away empty.
54 He has (AU)helped (AV)his servant Israel,
    (AW)in remembrance of his mercy,
55 (AX)as he spoke to our fathers,
    (AY)to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

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 (AZ)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And (BA)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; (BB)he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And (BC)they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for (BD)a writing tablet and wrote, (BE)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 (BF)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue (BG)loosed, and he spoke, (BH)blessing God. 65 And (BI)fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all (BJ)the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them (BK)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For (BL)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah (BM)was filled with the Holy Spirit and (BN)prophesied, saying,

68 (BO)“Blessed be the Lord (BP)God of Israel,
    for he has (BQ)visited and (BR)redeemed his people
69 and (BS)has raised up (BT)a horn of salvation for us
    (BU)in the house of his servant David,
70 (BV)as (BW)he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 (BX)that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 (BY)to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and (BZ)to remember his holy (CA)covenant,
73 (CB)the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him (CC)without fear,
75     (CD)in holiness and righteousness before him (CE)all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called (CF)the prophet of (CG)the Most High;
    for (CH)you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    (CI)in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the (CJ)tender mercy of our God,
    whereby (CK)the sunrise shall (CL)visit us[g] (CM)from on high
79 to (CN)give light to (CO)those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into (CP)the way of (CQ)peace.”

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

The Birth of Jesus Christ

In those days (CT)a decree went out from (CU)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be (CV)registered. This was the first (CW)registration when[h] Quirinius (CX)was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up (CY)from Galilee, from the town of (CZ)Nazareth, to Judea, to (DA)the city of David, which is called (DB)Bethlehem, (DC)because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,[i] who was with child. And (DD)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and (DE)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and (DF)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in (DG)the inn.[j]

The Shepherds and the Angels

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord (DH)appeared to them, and (DI)the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all (DJ)the people. 11 For (DK)unto you is born this day in (DL)the city of David (DM)a Savior, who is (DN)Christ (DO)the Lord. 12 And (DP)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby (DQ)wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel (DR)a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 (DS)“Glory to God (DT)in the highest,
    (DU)and on earth (DV)peace (DW)among those with whom he is pleased!”[k]

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby (DX)lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But (DY)Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, (DZ)glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And (EA)at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, (EB)he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And (EC)when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem (ED)to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in (EE)the Law of the Lord, (EF)“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in (EG)the Law of the Lord, (EH)“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was (EI)righteous and (EJ)devout, (EK)waiting for (EL)the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not (EM)see death before he had seen (EN)the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when (EO)the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and (EP)blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant[l] depart (EQ)in peace,
    (ER)according to your word;
30 for (ES)my eyes have seen your (ET)salvation
31     (EU)that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 (EV)a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and (EW)for glory to (EX)your people Israel.”

33 And (EY)his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed (EZ)for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign (FA)that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was (FB)a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.[m] She did not depart from the temple, (FC)worshiping with (FD)fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were (FE)waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

39 And when they had performed everything according to (FF)the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of (FG)Nazareth. 40 (FH)And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Footnotes

  1. Luke 1:27 That is, legally pledged to be married
  2. Luke 1:28 Some manuscripts add Blessed are you among women!
  3. Luke 1:34 Greek since I do not know a man
  4. Luke 1:35 Some manuscripts add of you
  5. Luke 1:38 Greek bondservant; also verse 48
  6. Luke 1:45 Or believed, for there will be
  7. Luke 1:78 Or when the sunrise shall dawn upon us; some manuscripts since the sunrise has visited us
  8. Luke 2:2 Or This was the registration before
  9. Luke 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married
  10. Luke 2:7 Or guest room
  11. Luke 2:14 Some manuscripts peace, good will among men
  12. Luke 2:29 Or bondservant
  13. Luke 2:37 Or as a widow for eighty-four years

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