The Righteous Reign of the Branch

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God, who ^(B)takes away the sin ^(C)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(D)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(E)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(F)bore witness: ^(G)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(H)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(I)he who sent me to baptize ^(J)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(K)this is he who baptizes ^(L)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[a] of God.”

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 favored 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 favor 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)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(A)Behold, I, I ^(B)myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ^(C)a day of clouds and ^(D)thick darkness. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples ^(E)and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on ^(F)the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14 (G)I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. ^(H)There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ^15 (I)I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, ^(J)and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ Now the birth of ^(A)Jesus Christ^[a] took place in this way. ^(B)When his mother Mary had been betrothed^[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^(C)from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling ^(D)to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, ^(E)an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and ^(F)you shall call his name Jesus, ^(G)for he will save his people from their sins.” ^22 (H)All this took place ^(I)to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, God ^(L)with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And ^(M)he called his name Jesus.

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

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(A)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(B)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[b] will be called ^(C)holy—^(D)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 ^(E)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(F)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[c] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(G)the angel departed from her.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(A)a decree went out from ^(B)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(C)registered. ² This was the first ^(D)registration when^[a] Quirinius ^(E)was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(F)from Galilee, from the town of ^(G)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(H)the city of David, which is called ^(I)Bethlehem, ^(J)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(K)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(L)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(M)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(N)the inn.^[c]