Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{[a] (B)}of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(A)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(B)you shall call his name John.

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(A)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(B)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[a] will be called ^(C)holy—^(D)the Son of God.

⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(A)from Galilee, from the town of ^(B)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(C)the city of David, which is called ^(D)Bethlehem, ^(E)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[a] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(F)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(G)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(H)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(I)the inn.^[b]