Book of Common Prayer
Commands to households
2 So what must you do? Just this: you must instruct people how to conduct themselves in accordance with healthy teaching.
2 The older men are to be sober, dignified, sensible, and healthy in faith, love and patience. 3 In the same way, older women are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or enslaved to heavy drinking, able to teach what is good. 4 That way, they can give sensible instructions to the younger women on how to love their husbands and their children, 5 and how to be sensible, holy, good at looking after the household, and submissive to their own husbands, so that people won’t have bad things to say about the word of God. 6 You must urge the younger men, in the same way, to be sensible 7 in all things.
Make sure you present yourself as a pattern of good works. Your teaching must be consistent and serious, 8 in healthy speech that is beyond reproach. That way, our opponents will be ashamed, since they won’t have anything bad to say about us.
9 Slaves must be submissive in everything to their masters. They must do what is wanted and not answer back 10 or help themselves to their masters’ property. They are to show good faith in everything, so that in every way they may be a good advertisement for the teaching of God our savior.
The annunciation of the birth of Jesus
26 In the sixth month, Gabriel (the angel) was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man called Joseph, from the family of David. The virgin was called Mary.
28 “Greetings, favored one!” said the angel when he arrived. “May the Lord be with you!”
29 She was disturbed at this, and wondered what such a greeting might mean.
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” said the angel to her. “You’re in favor with God. 31 Listen: you will conceive in your womb and will have a son; and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be a great man, and he’ll be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never come to an end.”
34 “How will this happen?” said Mary to the angel. “I’m still a virgin!”
35 “The holy spirit will come upon you,” replied the angel, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason the holy one who is born from you will be called God’s Son.
36 “Let me tell you this, too: your cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. This is the sixth month for her, a woman who people used to say was barren. 37 With God, you see, nothing is impossible.”
38 “Here I am,” said Mary; “I’m the Lord’s servant-girl. Let it happen to me as you’ve said.”
Then the angel left her.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.