Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{[a] (B)}of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both ^(D)righteous before God, walking ^(E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because ^(F)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(G)both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now ^(H)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(I)his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(J)to enter ^(K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people ^(L)were praying ^(M)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(N)the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(O)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(Q)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(R)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be ^(S)great before the Lord. And ^(T)he must not drink wine or strong ^(U)drink, and ^(V)he will be ^(W)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(X)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he will go before him ^(Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AD)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AE)Gabriel. ^(AF)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, ^(AG)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(AH)the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(AI)the temple. And ^(AJ)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(AK)when his time of ^(AL)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(AM)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(AN)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(AO)Nazareth, ^27 (AP)to a virgin betrothed^[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(AQ)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(AR)O favored one, ^(AS)the Lord is with you!”^{[c] 29} But ^(AT)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 ^(AU)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(AV)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(AW)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AX)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(AY)will give to him the throne of ^(AZ)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(BA)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?”^[d]

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(BB)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(BC)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[e] will be called ^(BD)holy—^(BE)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 ^(BF)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(BG)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[f] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(BH)the angel departed from her.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(A)a decree went out from ^(B)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(C)registered. ² This was the first ^(D)registration when^[a] Quirinius ^(E)was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up ^(F)from Galilee, from the town of ^(G)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(H)the city of David, which is called ^(I)Bethlehem, ^(J)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child. ⁶ And ^(K)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(L)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(M)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(N)the inn.^[c]

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 ^(O)appeared to them, and ^(P)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 ^(Q)the people. ¹¹ For ^(R)unto you is born this day in ^(S)the city of David ^(T)a Savior, who is ^(U)Christ ^(V)the Lord. ¹² And ^(W)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^(X)wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel ^(Y)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 ^(AE)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 ^(AF)Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, ^(AG)glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ Now the birth of ^(A)Jesus Christ^[a] took place in this way. ^(B)When his mother Mary had been betrothed^[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^(C)from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling ^(D)to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, ^(E)an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and ^(F)you shall call his name Jesus, ^(G)for he will save his people from their sins.” ^22 (H)All this took place ^(I)to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, God ^(L)with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And ^(M)he called his name Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now ^(A)after Jesus was born in ^(B)Bethlehem of Judea ^(C)in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from ^(D)the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born ^(E)king of the Jews? For we saw ^(F)his star when it rose^[b] and have come to ^(G)worship him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where ^(H)the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, ^(K)they offered him gifts, ^(L)gold and ^(M)frankincense and ^(N)myrrh. ¹² And ^(O)being warned ^(P)in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.