¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Ahaz again. He said, ¹¹ “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.”

¹² But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”

¹³ So Isaiah said:

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother, Mary, was pledged in marriage^[a] to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to divorce her privately. ²⁰ But as he was considering these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[b] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “Look, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. And they will name him Immanuel,”^[c] which means, “God with us.”

²⁴ When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife, ²⁵ but he was not intimate with her until she gave birth to her firstborn son.^[d] And he named him Jesus.

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised in advance through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. ³ This gospel is about his Son—who in the flesh^[a] was born a descendant of David, ⁴ who in the spirit^[b] of holiness was declared to be God’s powerful Son by his resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ, our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and the call to be an apostle on behalf of his name, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, ⁶ including you, who were called by Jesus Christ.