24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and ahid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he blooked on me, to ctake away my reproach among men.

26 And in dthe sixth month the angel eGabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named fNazareth, 27 To a virgin gespoused to a man whose name was Joseph, hof the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, ithou that art ||highly favoured, lthe Lord is with thee: mblessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, nshe was troubled at his saying, and nncast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast ofound favour with God. 31 And, behold, pthou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and qshalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of rthe Highest: and the Lord God shall sgive unto him tthe throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob ufor ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, xThe Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of rthe Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also ythat holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called zthe Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy acousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called bbarren. 37 For cwith God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; dbe it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into ethe hill country fwith haste, into ea city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth gwas filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, hBlessed art thou iamong women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And jwhence is this to me, that the mother of jjmy Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And kblessed is she ||that believed: kkfor there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

46  And Mary said,

lMy soul doth mmagnify the Lord,

47  And nmy spirit hath rejoiced in oGod my Saviour.

48  For phe hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

For, behold, from henceforth qall generations shall rcall me blessed.

49  For he that is mighty shath done to me tgreat things;

And uholy is his name.

50  And xhis mercy is on them that fear him

From generation to generation.

51  yHe hath shewed strength with his arm;

zHe hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52  aHe hath put down bthe mighty from their seats,

And exalted them of low degree.

53  cHe hath filled the hungry with good things;

And the rich he hath dsent empty away.

54  He hath eholpen his servant Israel,

fIn remembrance of his mercy;

55  gAs he spake to our fathers,

To Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And hher neighbours and her icousins heard how the Lord had kshewed great mercy upon her; and lthey rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass, that mon the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and nthey called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but ohe shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they pmade signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, qHis name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 rAnd his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue sloosed, and he spake, and tpraised God. 65 And ufear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these ||sayings were noised abroad throughout all vthe hill country of Judaea. 66 And all they that heard them wlaid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And xthe hand of the Lord was with him. 67 And his father Zacharias ywas filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68  zBlessed be the Lord aGod of Israel;

For he hath bvisited and credeemed his people,

69  And hath raised up dan horn of salvation for us

In the house of his servant David;

70  eAs he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,

Which have been fsince the world began:

71  That we should be saved from our enemies,

And from the hand of all that hate us;

72  gTo perform the mercy promised to our fathers,

And hto remember his holy covenant;

73  iThe oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies

Might kserve him without fear,

75  lIn holiness and righteousness before him,

mAll the days of our life.

76  And thou, child, shalt be called nthe prophet of othe Highest:

For pthou shalt go before the face of the Lord

pTo prepare his ways;

77  To give ppknowledge of salvation unto his people

||By the remission of their sins,

78  Through the ||tender mercy of our God;

Whereby the ||dayspring from on high hath bvisited us,

79  qTo give light to them rthat sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of speace.

80 And tthe child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was uin the deserts till the day of his xshewing unto Israel.

2 *And it came to pass in those days, that there went out aa decree from Caesar Augustus, that all bthe world should be ||taxed. 2 (And this ctaxing was first made when Cyrenius dwas governor of ddSyria.) 3 And all went to be ||taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also ewent up from fGalilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto gthe city of David, which is called Beth-lehem; h(because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be ||taxed with Mary ihis espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, kwhile they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth lher firstborn son, and mwrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a nmanger; because there was no room for them in the oinn.