The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel^(A) to Nazareth,^(B) a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph,^(C) a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,^(D) Mary; you have found favor with God.^{(E) 31} You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.^{(F) 32} He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.^(G) The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,^{(H) 33} and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom^(I) will never end.”^(J)

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,^(K) and the power of the Most High^(L) will overshadow you. So the holy one^(M) to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God.^{(N) 36} Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child^(O) in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”^(P)

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.^(B) I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior^(C) has been born to you; he is the Messiah,^(D) the Lord.^{(E) 12} This will be a sign^(F) to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.^{(H) 17} When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.^{(I) 20} The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God^(J) for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

¹⁸ All this is from God,^(A) who reconciled us to himself through Christ^(B) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^(C) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,^(D) as though God were making his appeal through us.^(E) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.^{(F) 21} God made him who had no sin^(G) to be sin^[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^(H)

¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,^(A) since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

⁵ And hope^(A) does not put us to shame, because God’s love^(B) has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,^(C) who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time,^(D) when we were still powerless,^(E) Christ died for the ungodly.^{(F) 7} Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.^(G)

⁹ Since we have now been justified^(H) by his blood,^(I) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath^(J) through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies,^(K) we were reconciled^(L) to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!^{(M) 11} Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.^(N)

⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;^(A) it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;^(A)

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things?^(A) If God is for us,^(B) who can be against us?^{(C) 32} He who did not spare his own Son,^(D) but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified^(A) through faith,^(B) we^[a] have peace^(C) with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,^(D)