Luke 1:26–2:24
The Prediction of Jesus’ Birth
26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee ⌊named⌋g Nazareth, 27 to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man ⌊named⌋h Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And he came to her and* said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly perplexed at the statement, and was pondering what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son,
and you will call his name Jesus.
32 This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
33 And he will reign over the house of Jacob ⌊forever⌋,i
and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 And the angel answered and* said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth—she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For ⌊nothing will be impossible with God⌋.”j
38 So Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s female slave! May it happen to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
39 Now in those days Mary set out and* traveled with haste into the hill country, to a town of Judah, 40 and entered into the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby in her womb leaped and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud shout and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 And why is this granted to me, that the mother of 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 blessed is she who believed that there will be a fulfillment to what was spoken to her from the Lord!”
46 And Mary said,
“My soul exalts the Lord,
47 and my spirit has rejoiced greatly in God my Savior,
48 because he has looked upon the humble state of his female slave,
for behold, from now on all generations will consider me blessed,
49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for generation after generation
to those who fear him.
51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm;
he has dispersed the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled those who are hungry with good things,
and those who are rich he has sent away empty-handed.
54 He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
55 just as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants ⌊forever⌋.”k
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her home.
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that ⌊the Lord had shown his great mercy to her⌋,l and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were wanting to name him ⌊after⌋m his father Zechariah. 60 And his mother answered and* said, “No, but he will be named John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, 63 and he asked for a writing tablet and* wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all astonished. 64 And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak,* praising God. 65 And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. 66 And all those who heard kept these things* in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!”
The Praise and Prophecy of Zechariah
67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited to help and ⌊has redeemed⌋n his people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times—
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,
72 to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
could serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the merciful compassiono of our God
by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to direct our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
2 Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesara Augustus to register all the empire. 2 (This first registration took place when* Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town. 4 So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered together with Mary, who was legally promised in marriage to him and* was pregnant. 6 And it happened that while they were there, ⌊the time came⌋b for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and ⌊they were terribly frightened⌋.c 10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people: 11 that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. 12 And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace
among people ⌊with whom he is pleased⌋!”d
15 And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say* to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!” 16 And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 And when they* saw it,* they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child. 18 And all who heard it* were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering them* in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
21 And when eight days were completed ⌊so that he could be circumcised⌋,e he was named Jesus, his name that he was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
22 And when the days of their purification were completed according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him* to the Lord 23 (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord”)f 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”g