Luke 1:27-76

²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

²⁹But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed by his saying, and she wondered what sort of greeting this was.

³⁰Then the angel said to her, “Do not fear, Mary, for you have found grace with God.

³¹And behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS.

³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David.

³³And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

³⁴Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

³⁵And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore, also, that holy child which is to be born shall be called the Son of God.

³⁶And behold, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for she who was called barren.

³⁷For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

³⁸Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! May it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹Now Mary rose up in those days and traveled into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,

⁴⁰and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴²Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³And why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leaped for joy in my womb.

⁴⁵And blessed is she who has believed, because there shall be a fulfillment to the things having been spoken to her from the Lord.”

⁴⁶And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

⁴⁸Because He looked upon the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹For He that is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name.

⁵⁰And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.

⁵¹He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

⁵²He has overthrown the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,

⁵⁵As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months, and she returned to her house.

⁵⁷Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she bore a son.

⁵⁸And when her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹Now it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they started to call him by the name of his father, Zacharias.

⁶⁰His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”

⁶¹But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”

⁶²So they made signs to his father about what he wished him to be called.

⁶³And asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, “His name is John.” And they all marveled.

⁶⁴Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he started to speak, praising God.

⁶⁵Then fear came on all who lived around them; and all these things were being talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea.

⁶⁶And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people,

⁶⁹And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,

⁷⁰As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,

⁷¹That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,

⁷²To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant,

⁷³The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:

⁷⁴To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,

⁷⁵In holiness and righteousness before Him All the days of our life.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go before the face of the Lord To prepare His ways,