²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son^(A) and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”^(B)

²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace^(A) among the people.”

²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph,^(A) a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Jacob’s Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved,^(A) he enabled her to conceive,^(B) but Rachel remained childless.

⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion^(A) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.^{(B) 6} Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.^(C)

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.