John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias

⁵ There was ^(A)in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, ^(B)of the division of ^(C)Abijah. His ^(D)wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

Simeon Sees God’s Salvation

²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, ^(A)waiting for 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 ^(B)see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ So he came ^(C)by the Spirit into the temple. And when 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 blessed God and said:

Anna Bears Witness to the Redeemer

³⁶ Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of ^(A)Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; ³⁷ and this woman was a widow ^[a]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers ^(B)night and day. ³⁸ And coming in that instant she gave thanks to ^[b]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who ^(C)looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

He Is Risen^(A)

24 Now ^(B)on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, ^[a]and certain other women with them, came to the tomb ^(C)bringing the spices which they had prepared. ^2 (D)But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ^3 (E)Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ And it happened, as they were ^[b]greatly perplexed about this, that ^(F)behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. ⁵ Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! ^(G)Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying, ‘The Son of Man must be ^(H)delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”

⁸ And ^(I)they remembered His words. ^9 (J)Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, ^(K)Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. ^11 (L)And their words seemed to them like ^[c]idle tales, and they did not believe them. ^12 (M)But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths ^[d]lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.