Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶In the sixth month the angel xGabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named yNazareth, ²⁷zto a virgin betrothed2 to a man whose name was Joseph, aof the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, bO favored one, cthe Lord is with you!”3 ²⁹But dshe was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for eyou have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, fyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and gyou shall call his name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of hthe Most High. And the Lord God iwill give to him the throne of jhis father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob kforever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”4

³⁵And the angel answered her, l“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of hthe Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born5 will be called mholy—nthe Son of God. ³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her owho was called barren. ³⁷For pnothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant6 of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And qthe angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into rthe hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth swas filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, t“Blessed are you among women, and ublessed is vthe fruit of your womb! ⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of wmy 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 xblessed is she who believed that there would be7 a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

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