Luke 1:8-42

⁸Now it happened, as he was officiating as priest before God in the order of his division,

⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, that his lot was to burn incense, upon entering the sanctuary of the Lord;

¹⁰and the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

¹¹Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense;

¹²and upon seeing him Zacharias was shaken, and a fear fell upon him.

¹³But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, because your prayer was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

¹⁴And you will have joy and exultation, and many will rejoice over his birth.

¹⁵For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must not drink either wine or strong drink; indeed, he will be filled with Holy Spirit already from his mother's womb.

¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God;

¹⁷in fact he himself will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of fathers to children’ and the disobedient to the mindset of the righteous, to prepare a people made ready for the Lord.”

¹⁸But Zacharias said to the angel: “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

¹⁹So in answer the angel said to him: “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.

²⁰Now look, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day in which these things happen, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹Now the people were waiting for Zacharias and wondering at his delay in the sanctuary.

²²But when he came out he was unable to speak to them, and they understood that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary—he kept gesturing to them while remaining mute.

²³And so, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he took off for home.

²⁴Well after those days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and stayed in seclusion five months. She kept saying,

²⁵“So that's what the Lord has done for me in the days when He concerned Himself to take away my reproach among the people!”

²⁶Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee named Natsareth,

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

²⁸So upon entering where she was the angel said, “Rejoice, recipient of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

²⁹But upon seeing him she was perplexed at his word and was trying to figure out what sort of greeting it might be.

³⁰The angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found favor with God.

³¹Now then, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS.

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

³³and He will reign over the house of Jacob into the ages; indeed, of His kingdom there will be no end!”

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

³⁵In answer the angel said to her: “Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will hover over you; precisely for this reason the holy One who is to be born will be called ‘Son of God’!

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

³⁷because any word spoken by God will be possible.”

³⁸So Mary said: “Yes, I am the Lord's slave! Let it happen to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹Then Mary quickly got ready and went into the hill country in those days, to a town of Judah,

⁴⁰and entered the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth.

⁴¹Well it happened that as Elizabeth heard Mary's salutation the babe bounced up and down in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit.

⁴²And she cried out with a great voice and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb!