The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel^(A) to Nazareth,^(B) a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph,^(C) a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,^(D) Mary; you have found favor with God.^{(E) 31} You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.^{(F) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.^(G) The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,^{(H) 33} and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom^(I) will never end.”^(J)

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,^(K) and the power of the Most High^(L) will overshadow you. So the holy one^(M) to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God.^(N)

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.^{(A) 19} Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce^(B) her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel^(C) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream^(D) and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is 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,^[c](E) because he will save his people from their sins.”^(F)

²² All this took place to fulfill^(G) what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d](H) (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel^(I) of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.^(J)

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[a] a sign:^(A) The virgin^[b](B) will conceive and give birth to a son,^(C) and^[c] will call him Immanuel.^[d](D)

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood,^(A) he too shared in their humanity^(B) so that by his death he might break the power^(C) of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil^(D)—

¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them,^[a](A) fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful^(B) and faithful high priest^(C) in service to God,^(D) and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.^(E)

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest^(A) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are^(B)—yet he did not sin.^(C)

²⁶ Such a high priest^(A) truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,^(B) exalted above the heavens.^{(C) 27} Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices^(D) day after day, first for his own sins,^(E) and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all^(F) when he offered himself.^(G)