John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the ^(B)division of ^[a]Abijah; and he had a wife ^[b]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They were both ^(C)righteous in the sight of God, walking ^(D)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷ And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in ^[c]years.

⁸ Now it happened that while ^(E)he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot ^(F)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer ^(G)outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ Now ^(H)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^(I)fear ^[d]gripped him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “^(J)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(K)you shall ^[e]name him John. ¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will ^(L)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ^[f]while still in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will ^(M)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And it is he who will ^(N)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of ^(O)Elijah, ^(P)to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^(Q)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^(R)I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her ^[g]years.” ¹⁹ The angel answered and said to him, “I am ^(S)Gabriel, who ^[h](T)stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named ^(B)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(C)a virgin ^[a]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the ^[b]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[c]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord ^[d]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(E)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(F)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you ^(G)shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(H)the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^(I)the throne of His father David; ^33 (J)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(K)and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[e]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(L)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(M)the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also ^(N)the ^[f]holy Child will be called ^(O)the Son of God.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[a]at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to ^(A)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(B)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[b]how has it happened to me that the mother of ^(C)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time ^[a]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[b](A)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(B)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[c]after his father. ⁶⁰ And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(C)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² And they ^[d](D)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[e]as follows, “^(E)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ^64 (F)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in ^(G)the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed ^(H)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(I)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(J)prophesied, saying:

^80 (A)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the ^[a]Messiah was as follows: when His ^(A)mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was ^(B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to ^[c](C)send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “^(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son; and ^(E)you shall name Him Jesus, for ^[e]He ^(F)will save His people from their sins.”

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. ⁹ And ^(A)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(B)stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ And so the angel said to them, “^(C)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(D)Savior, who is ^[a](E)Christ ^(F)the Lord. ¹² And ^(G)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[b]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly ^[c]army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[e]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(J)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds went back, ^(K)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was ^(A)righteous and devout, ^(B)looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And ^(C)it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(D)see death before he had seen the Lord’s ^[a]Christ. ²⁷ And he came ^[b]by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, ^[c](E)to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

³³ And His father and ^(I)mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to ^(J)His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for ^(K)the fall and ^[e]rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be ^[f]opposed—