The Word Becomes Flesh

^14 (A)And the Word ^(B)became ^(C)flesh and dwelt among us, and ^(D)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ^(E)full of grace and truth.

^15 (F)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ^(G)‘He who comes after me ^[a]is preferred before me, ^(H)for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [b]And of His ^(I)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For ^(J)the law was given through Moses, but ^(K)grace and ^(L)truth came through Jesus Christ. ^18 (M)No one has seen God at any time. ^(N)The only begotten ^[c]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

^16 (A)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten ^(B)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

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.

³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, ^(A)and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, ^[a]according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, ^(B)that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ^32 (C)This Jesus God has raised up, ^(D)of which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore ^(E)being exalted ^[b]to ^(F)the right hand of God, and ^(G)having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ^(H)poured out this which you now see and hear.

³⁴ “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

^34 (A)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, ^(B)who is even at the right hand of God, ^(C)who also makes intercession for us.

The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality^(A)

15 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel ^(B)which I preached to you, which also you received and ^(C)in which you stand, ^2 (D)by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless ^(E)you believed in vain.

³ For ^(F)I delivered to you first of all that ^(G)which I also received: that Christ died for our sins ^(H)according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ^(I)according to the Scriptures, ^5 (J)and that He was seen by ^[a]Cephas, then ^(K)by the twelve. ⁶ After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have ^[b]fallen asleep. ⁷ After that He was seen by James, then ^(L)by all the apostles. ^8 (M)Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ

^5 (A)Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, ^(B)being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[a]robbery to be equal with God, ^7 (C)but ^[b]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form ^(D)of a bondservant, and ^(E)coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and ^(F)became ^(G)obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ^9 (H)Therefore God also ^(I)has highly exalted Him and ^(J)given Him the name which is above every name, ^10 (K)that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and ^(L)that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.