God’s People Are Comforted^(A)

Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin ^(A)betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, ^(B)“Rejoice, highly favored one, ^(C)the Lord is with you; ^[a]blessed are you among women!”

²⁹ But ^[b]when she saw him, ^(D)she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found ^(E)favor with God. ^31 (F)And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and ^(G)shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, ^(H)and will be called the Son of the Highest; and ^(I)the Lord God will give Him the ^(J)throne of His ^(K)father David. ^33 (L)And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I ^[c]do not know a man?”

³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, ^(M)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called ^(N)the Son of God. ³⁶ Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(O)with God nothing will be impossible.”

³⁸ Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, ^(P)to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was ^(Q)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, ^(R)“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ^45 (S)Blessed is she who ^[d]believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

The River of Life

22 And he showed me ^(A)a ^[a]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ^2 (B)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was ^(C)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were ^(D)for the healing of the nations. ³ And ^(E)there shall be no more curse, ^(F)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His ^(G)servants shall serve Him. ^4 (H)They shall see His face, and ^(I)His name shall be on their foreheads. ^5 (J)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor ^(K)light of the sun, for ^(L)the Lord God gives them light. ^(M)And they shall reign forever and ever.

The Time Is Near

⁶ Then he said to me, ^(N)“These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the ^[b]holy prophets ^(O)sent His angel to show His servants the things which must ^(P)shortly take place.

^7 (Q)“Behold, I am coming quickly! ^(R)Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ Now I, John, ^[c]saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, ^(S)I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

⁹ Then he said to me, ^(T)“See that you do not do that. ^[d]For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” ^10 (U)And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, ^(V)for the time is at hand. ¹¹ He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him ^[e]be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”

Jesus Testifies to the Churches

¹² “And behold, I am coming quickly, and ^(W)My reward is with Me, ^(X)to give to every one according to his work. ^13 (Y)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the ^[f]Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

^14 (Z)Blessed are those who ^[g]do His commandments, that they may have the right ^(AA)to the tree of life, ^(AB)and may enter through the gates into the city. ^15 [h]But ^(AC)outside are ^(AD)dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

^16 (AE)“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. ^(AF)I am the Root and the Offspring of David, ^(AG)the Bright and Morning Star.”

¹⁷ And the Spirit and ^(AH)the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” ^(AI)And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

A Warning

^18 [i]For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: ^(AJ)If anyone adds to these things, ^[j]God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, ^(AK)God^[k] shall take away his part from the ^[l]Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

I Am Coming Quickly

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ^[m]with you all. Amen.