Salutation

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,^{(A) 3} the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh^{(B) 4} and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit^[a] of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,^{(C) 5} through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name,^{(D) 6} including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(E)

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah^[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.^{(A) 19} Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly.^{(B) 20} But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”^{(C) 22} All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

which means, “God is with us.”^{(D) 24} When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,^[b] and he named him Jesus.^(E)

The Peaceful Kingdom