Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(B)Nazareth, ^27 (C)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(E)O favored one, ^(F)the Lord is with you!”^{[b] 29} But ^(G)she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(H)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(I)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(J)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(K)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(L)will give to him the throne of ^(M)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(N)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”^[c]

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(O)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(P)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(Q)holy—^(R)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^(S)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(T)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(U)the angel departed from her.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.^[a]

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God, who ^(B)takes away the sin ^(C)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(D)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(E)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(F)bore witness: ^(G)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(H)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(I)he who sent me to baptize ^(J)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(K)this is he who baptizes ^(L)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[a] of God.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (A)Immediately he ^(B)made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, ^(C)he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When ^(D)evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat by this time was a long way^[a] from the land,^[b] beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And ^(E)in the fourth watch of the night^[c] he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, ^(F)they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(G)“Take heart; it is I. ^(H)Do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and ^(I)walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind,^[d] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ^(J)“Lord, save me.” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ^(K)“O you of little faith, why did you ^(L)doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, ^(M)the wind ceased. ³³ And ^(N)those in the boat ^(O)worshiped him, saying, ^(P)“Truly you are ^(Q)the Son of God.”

The Death of Jesus

³³ And when the sixth hour^[a] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.^{[b] 34} And at the ninth hour Jesus ^(A)cried with a loud voice, ^(B)“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ³⁵ And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” ³⁶ And someone ran and filled a sponge with ^(C)sour wine, put it on a reed ^(D)and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷ And Jesus ^(E)uttered a loud cry and ^(F)breathed his last. ³⁸ And ^(G)the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ^39 (H)And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he^[c] breathed his last, he said, ^(I)“Truly this man was the Son^[d] of God!”