Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month the angel xGabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named yNazareth, 27 zto a virgin betrothed1 to a man whose name was Joseph, aof the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, bO favored one, cthe Lord is with you!”2 29 But dshe was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for eyou have found favor with God. 31 And behold, fyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and gyou shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of hthe Most High. And the Lord God iwill give to him the throne of jhis father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob kforever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”3
35 And the angel answered her, l“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of hthe Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born4 will be called mholy—nthe Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her owho was called barren. 37 For pnothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant5 of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And qthe angel departed from her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into rthe 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 swas filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, t“Blessed are you among women, and ublessed is vthe fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of wmy 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 xblessed is she who believed that there would be6 a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat
46 And Mary said,
y“My zsoul amagnifies the Lord,
47 band my zspirit rejoices in cGod my Savior,
48 for dhe has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations ewill call me blessed;
49 for fhe who is mighty ghas done great things for me,
and hholy is his name.
50 And ihis mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 jHe has shown strength with his arm;
khe has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 jhe has brought down the mighty from their thrones
land exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled mthe hungry with good things,
and the rich nhe has sent away empty.
54 He has ohelped phis servant Israel,
qin remembrance of his mercy,
55 ras he spoke to our fathers,
qto Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
25 eI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from fall your uncleannesses, and gfrom all your idols hI will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. iAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 jAnd I will put my Spirit within you, iand cause you to walk in my statutes and kbe careful to obey my rules.1
5 For rthose who live according to the flesh set their minds on sthe things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on tthe things of the Spirit. 6 For to set uthe mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is vhostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; windeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact xthe Spirit of God dwells in you. yAnyone who does not have zthe Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of ahim who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus1 from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies bthrough his Spirit who dwells in you.
