Luke 1:39–80

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹Now in those days Mary set out and^* traveled with haste into the hill country, to a town of Judah, ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹And it happened that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby in her womb leaped and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²And she cried out with a loud shout and said,

“Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! ⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there will be a fulfillment to what was spoken to her from the Lord!”

Mary’s Hymn of Praise to God

⁴⁶And Mary said,

“My soul exalts the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit has rejoiced greatly in God my Savior,

⁴⁸because he has looked upon the humble state of his female slave,

for behold, from now on all generations will consider me blessed,

⁴⁹because the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

⁵⁰And his mercy is for generation after generation

to those who fear him.

⁵¹He has done a mighty deed with his arm;

he has dispersed the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

and has exalted the lowly.

⁵³He has filled those who are hungry with good things,

and those who are rich he has sent away empty-handed.

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant,

remembering his mercy,

⁵⁵just as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”^k

⁵⁶And Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her,^l and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And 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. ⁶⁰And his mother answered and^* said, “No, but he will be named John.” ⁶¹And they said to her, “There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, ⁶³and he asked for a writing tablet and^* wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak,^* praising God. ⁶⁵And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. ⁶⁶And 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

⁶⁷And 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 redeemedⁿ his people,

⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

⁷⁰just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times—

⁷¹salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,

⁷²to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath that he swore to Abraham our father,

to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

could serve him without fear ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness

before him all our days.

⁷⁶And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people

by the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸because of the merciful compassion^o of our God

by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to direct our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.