A Nation in Trouble Prays

A maskil of Asaph.

The Virgin Mary

^26-27 During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord has blessed you and is with you.”

²⁹ But Mary was very confused by what the angel said. Mary wondered, “What does this mean?”

³⁰ The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, because God is pleased with you. ³¹ Listen! You will become pregnant. You will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be great, and people will call him the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. ³³ He will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen? I am a virgin!”

³⁵ The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Now listen! Elizabeth, your relative, is very old. But she is also pregnant with a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. ³⁷ God can do everything!”

³⁸ Mary said, “I am the servant girl of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” Then the angel went away.

Other Apostles Accepted Paul

2 After 14 years, I went to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas. I also took Titus with me. ² I went because God showed me that I should go. I met with those men who were the leaders of the believers. When we were alone, I told them the Good News that I preach to the non-Jewish people. I did not want my past work and the work I am now doing to be wasted. ³ Titus was with me. But Titus was not forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ We talked about this problem because some false brothers had come into our group secretly. They came in like spies to find out about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves. ⁵ But we did not agree with anything those false brothers wanted! We wanted the truth of the Good News to continue for you.

⁶ Those men who seemed to be important did not change the Good News that I preach. (It doesn’t matter to me if they were “important” or not. To God all men are the same.) ⁷ But these leaders saw that God had given me special work, just as he had to Peter. God gave Peter the work of telling the Good News to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the Good News to the non-Jewish people. ⁸ God gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the Jewish people. But he also gave me the power to work as an apostle for those who are not Jews. ⁹ James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, saw that God had given me this special grace. So they accepted Barnabas and me. They said, “Paul and Barnabas, we agree that you should go to the people who are not Jews. We will go to the Jews.” ¹⁰ They asked us to do only one thing—to remember to help the poor. And this was something that I really wanted to do.