The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,^{(A) 27} to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.^{(B) 28} And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”^{[a](C) 29} But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.^{(D) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.^{(E) 33} He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”^(F)

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah^[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.^{(A) 19} Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly.^{(B) 20} But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”^{(C) 22} All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

which means, “God is with us.”^{(D) 24} When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,^[b] and he named him Jesus.^(E)