Gabriel Predicts Jesus’s Birth

²⁶ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel^(A) was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,^{(B) 27} to a virgin engaged^[a](C) to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.^(D) The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”^{[b] 29} But she was deeply troubled^(E) by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. ³⁰ Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,^(F) for you have found favor with God.^{(G) 31} Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.^{(H) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,^(I) and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.^{(J) 33} He will reign over the house of Jacob^(K) forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” ^(L)

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” ^[c]

³⁵ The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,^(M) and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.^{(N) 36} And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”^(O)

³⁸ “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.^{(P) 42} Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed!^{[d] 43} How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”

Mary’s Praise

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

The First Sign: Turning Water into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana^(A) of Galilee.^(B) Jesus’s mother^(C) was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. ³ When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.”

⁴ “What has this concern of yours to do with me,^[a](D) woman?”^(E) Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants.

⁶ Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification.^(F) Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. ⁸ Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.”^[c] And they did.

⁹ When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom ¹⁰ and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana^(G) of Galilee.^(H) He revealed^(I) his glory,^(J) and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, he went down to Capernaum,^(K) together with his mother, his brothers,^(L) and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

¹⁷ Carrying^(A) the cross by himself,^(B) he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^(C) and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’^(D) but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’”

²² Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture^(E) might be fulfilled^(F) that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.^[a](G) This is what the soldiers did.

Jesus’s Provision for His Mother

²⁵ Standing^(H) by the cross^(I) of Jesus were his mother,^(J) his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.^{(K) 26} When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved^(L) standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

United in Prayer

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³ When they arrived, they went to the room^(A) upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.^{(B) 14} They all were continually united^(C) in prayer,^[a] along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.^(D)