Luke 1:14-45

English Standard Version

¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(A)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be ^(B)great before the Lord. And ^(C)he must not drink wine or strong ^(D)drink, and ^(E)he will be ^(F)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(G)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and ^(H)he will go before him ^(I)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(J)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(K)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(L)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(M)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am ^(N)Gabriel. ^(O)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, ^(P)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(Q)the temple. ²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(R)the temple. And ^(S)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³And ^(T)when his time of ^(U)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(V)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶In the sixth month the angel ^(W)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(X)Nazareth, ²⁷^(Y)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(Z)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(AA)O favored one, ^(AB)the Lord is with you!”^[b] ²⁹But ^(AC)she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(AD)you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, ^(AE)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(AF)you shall call his name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AG)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(AH)will give to him the throne of ^(AI)his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(AJ)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

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

³⁵And the angel answered her, ^(AK)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(AL)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(AM)holy—^(AN)the Son of God. ³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^(AO)who was called barren. ³⁷For ^(AP)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(AQ)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(AR)the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ^(AS)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(AT)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(AU)blessed is ^(AV)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(AW)my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵And ^(AX)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[f] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”