Luke 1:37-3:14

English Standard Version

³⁷ For ^(A)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[a] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(B)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(C)the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ^(D)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(E)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(F)blessed is ^(G)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(H)my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(I)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[b] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord ^(AG)had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And ^(AH)on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; ^(AI)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And ^(AJ)they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for ^(AK)a writing tablet and wrote, ^(AL)“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ^64 (AM)And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue ^(AN)loosed, and he spoke, ^(AO)blessing God. ⁶⁵ And ^(AP)fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all ^(AQ)the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them ^(AR)laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(AS)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(AT)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(AU)prophesied, saying,

^80 (BY)And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was ^(BZ)in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(CA)a decree went out from ^(CB)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(CC)registered. ² This was the first ^(CD)registration when^[d] Quirinius ^(CE)was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(CF)from Galilee, from the town of ^(CG)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(CH)the city of David, which is called ^(CI)Bethlehem, ^(CJ)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[e] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(CK)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(CL)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(CM)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(CN)the inn.^[f]

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord ^(CO)appeared to them, and ^(CP)the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^(CQ)the people. ¹¹ For ^(CR)unto you is born this day in ^(CS)the city of David ^(CT)a Savior, who is ^(CU)Christ ^(CV)the Lord. ¹² And ^(CW)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^(CX)wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel ^(CY)a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^(DE)lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But ^(DF)Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, ^(DG)glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

²¹ And ^(DH)at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, ^(DI)he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²² And ^(DJ)when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^(DK)to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in ^(DL)the Law of the Lord, ^(DM)“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^(DN)the Law of the Lord, ^(DO)“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^(DP)righteous and ^(DQ)devout, ^(DR)waiting for ^(DS)the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(DT)see death before he had seen ^(DU)the Lord's Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^(DV)the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and ^(DW)blessed God and said,

³³ And ^(EF)his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed ^(EG)for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign ^(EH)that is opposed ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was ^(EI)a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[i] She did not depart from the temple, ^(EJ)worshiping with ^(EK)fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^(EL)waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when they had performed everything according to ^(EM)the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of ^(EN)Nazareth. ^40 (EO)And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹ Now ^(EP)his parents went ^(EQ)to Jerusalem every year at ^(ER)the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, ^(ES)they went up according to custom. ⁴³ And when the feast ^(ET)was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. ^(EU)His parents did not know it, ⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, ⁴⁵ and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, ^(EV)sitting among ^(EW)the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ And when his parents^[j] saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, ^(EX)your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” ⁴⁹ And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that ^(EY)I must be in ^(EZ)my Father's house?”^{[k] 50} And ^(FA)they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. ⁵¹ And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And ^(FB)his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus ^(FC)increased in wisdom and in stature^[l] and in ^(FD)favor with God and man.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(FE)Tiberius Caesar, ^(FF)Pontius Pilate ^(FG)being governor of Judea, and ^(FH)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during ^(FI)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(FJ)Caiaphas, ^(FK)the word of God came to ^(FL)John the son of Zechariah in ^(FM)the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(FN)a baptism of repentance ^(FO)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in ^(FP)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(FX)“You brood of ^(FY)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(FZ)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits ^(GA)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(GB)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(GC)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(GD)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, ^(GE)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(GF)“Whoever has two tunics^[n] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12 (GG)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(GH)what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, ^(GI)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(GJ)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(GK)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(GL)wages.”