Luke 1:26-2:8

English Standard Version Anglicised

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(B)Nazareth, ^27 (C)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(E)O favoured one, ^(F)the Lord is with you!”^{[b] 29} But ^(G)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 ^(H)you have found favour with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(I)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(J)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(K)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(L)will give to him the throne of ^(M)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(N)for ever, 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, ^(O)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(P)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(Q)holy—^(R)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 ^(S)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(T)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 ^(U)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(V)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 ^(W)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(X)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(Y)blessed is ^(Z)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(AA)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 ^(AB)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[f] a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord ^(AZ)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And ^(BA)on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; ^(BB)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And ^(BC)they made signs to his father, enquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for ^(BD)a writing tablet and wrote, ^(BE)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ^64 (BF)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^(BG)loosed, and he spoke, ^(BH)blessing God. ⁶⁵ And ^(BI)fear came on all their neighbours. And all these things were talked about through all ^(BJ)the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them ^(BK)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(BL)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(BM)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(BN)prophesied, saying,

^80 (CR)And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ^(CS)in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(CT)a decree went out from ^(CU)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(CV)registered. ² This was the first ^(CW)registration when^[h] Quirinius ^(CX)was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(CY)from Galilee, from the town of ^(CZ)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(DA)the city of David, which is called ^(DB)Bethlehem, ^(DC)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[i] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(DD)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(DE)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(DF)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(DG)the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.