¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(A)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am ^(B)Gabriel. ^(C)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, ^(D)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(E)the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(F)the temple. And ^(G)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(H)when his time of ^(I)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(J)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(K)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(L)Nazareth, ^27 (M)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(N)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(O)O favored one, ^(P)the Lord is with you!”^{[b] 29} But ^(Q)she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(R)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(S)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(T)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(U)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(V)will give to him the throne of ^(W)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(X)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

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

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(Y)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(Z)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(AA)holy—^(AB)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^(AC)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(AD)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(AE)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(AF)the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ^(AG)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(AH)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(AI)blessed is ^(AJ)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(AK)my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(AL)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[f] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

¹⁴ Therefore the ^(A)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(B)Behold, the ^(C)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(D)Immanuel.^[a]

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^(B)Satan^[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, ^(C)“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has ^(D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this ^(E)a brand^[b] plucked from the fire?” ³ Now ^(F)Joshua was standing before the angel, ^(G)clothed with filthy garments. ⁴ And the angel said to ^(H)those who were standing before him, ^(I)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, ^(J)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and ^(K)I will clothe you with pure vestments.” ⁵ And I said, ^(L)“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured ^(M)Joshua, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ^(N)keep my charge, then you shall ^(O)rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among ^(P)those who are standing here. ⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for ^(Q)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ^(R)my servant ^(S)the Branch. ⁹ For behold, on ^(T)the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with ^(U)seven eyes,^[c] I will ^(V)engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(W)I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. ¹⁰ In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come ^(X)under his vine and under his fig tree.”

² The earth was ^(A)without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.