¹¹ And ^(A)an angel of the ^[a]Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^(B)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “^(C)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will ^[b]bear you a son, and ^(D)you will call his name ^[c]John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the ^[d]Lord; and ^(E)he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ^[e]while yet in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will ^(F)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the ^[f]Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will ^(G)go before Him in the spirit and power of ^(H)Elijah, ^(I)to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^(J)make ready a people prepared for the ^[g]Lord.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^(K)I am an old man and my wife is advanced in ^[h]years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered and said to him, “I am ^(L)Gabriel, who ^(M)stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. ²² But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he ^(N)kept ^[i]making signs to them, and remained mute.

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called ^(B)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(C)a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the ^[a]house of David, and the virgin’s name was ^[b]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, ^[c]favored one! The Lord ^[d]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(E)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(F)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you ^(G)shall name Him Jesus. ^32 [e]He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(H)the Most High, and the ^[f]Lord God will give Him ^(I)the throne of His father David, ^33 (J)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(K)and there will be no end of His kingdom.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[g]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(L)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(M)the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason ^[h](N)the holy Child shall be called ^(O)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^[i](P)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the slave of the ^[j]Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.