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.

¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(A)the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(B)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(C)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(D)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(E)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be ^(F)great before the Lord. And ^(G)he must not drink wine or strong ^(H)drink, and ^(I)he will be ^(J)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(K)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and ^(L)he will go before him ^(M)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(N)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(O)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(P)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

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, ^(A)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(B)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(C)Nazareth, ^27 (D)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(E)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(F)O favored one, ^(G)the Lord is with you!”^[b]

³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(A)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(B)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(C)you shall call his name Jesus.

³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[a] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(A)the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ^(B)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 ^(C)was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ^(D)“Blessed are you among women, and ^(E)blessed is ^(F)the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of ^(G)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 ^(H)blessed is she who believed that there would be^[b] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”