Luke 1:28-69

²⁸And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, thou favoured one! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women.

²⁹But she, seeing the angel, was troubled at his word, and reasoned in her mind what this salutation might be.

³⁰And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;

³¹and behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

³²He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;

³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for the ages, and of his kingdom there shall not be an end.

³⁴But Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know not a man?

³⁵And the angel answering said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of the Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.

³⁶And behold, Elizabeth, thy kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her that was called barren:

³⁷for nothing shall be impossible with God.

³⁸And Mary said, Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

³⁹And Mary, rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,

⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And it came to pass, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴²and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb.

⁴⁵And blessed is she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done to me great things, and holy is his name;

⁵⁰and his mercy is to generations and generations to them that fear him.

⁵¹He has wrought strength with his arm; he has scattered haughty ones in the thought of their heart.

⁵²He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.

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

⁵⁴He has helped Israel his servant, in order to remember mercy,

⁵⁵(as he spoke to our fathers,) to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

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

⁵⁷But the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth that she should bring forth, and she gave birth to a son.

⁵⁸And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy with her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹And it came to pass on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called it after the name of his father, Zacharias.

⁶⁰And his mother answering said, No; but he shall be called John.

⁶¹And they said to her, There is no one among thy kinsfolk who is called by this name.

⁶²And they made signs to his father as to what he might wish it to be called.

⁶³And having asked for a writing-table, he wrote saying, John is his name. And they all wondered.

⁶⁴And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue, and he spake, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came upon all who dwelt round about them; and in the whole hill-country of Judaea all these things were the subject of conversation.

⁶⁶And all who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then will this child be? And the Lord's hand was with him.

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

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people,

⁶⁹and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;