Keeping the Word

²⁷ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^(A)“Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸ But He said, ^(B)“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

⁵⁸ When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they ^(A)rejoiced with her.

⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was ^(A)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, ^(B)“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ^45 (C)Blessed is she who ^[a]believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

The Song of Mary

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁹ Now Jabez was ^(A)more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name ^[a]Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my ^[b]territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

^31 (A)And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and ^(B)shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, ^(C)and will be called the Son of the Highest; and ^(D)the Lord God will give Him the ^(E)throne of His ^(F)father David. ^33 (G)And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”