Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 ^zIn the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin ^abetrothed¹ to a man whose name was Joseph, ^bof the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^cO favored one, ^dthe Lord is with you!”² 29 But she 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 you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, ^eyou will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 ^fHe will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the ^gthrone of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be ^hno end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”³

35 And the angel answered her, ⁱ“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born⁴ will be called holy—the ^jSon 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 who was called barren. 37 For ^knothing 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 the angel departed from her.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when¹ Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his ^rbetrothed,² who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.³

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an ^sangel of the Lord appeared to them, and the ^tglory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, ^u“Fear not, for behold, I bring you ^vgood news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 ^wFor ^xunto you is born this day ^yin the city of David a ^zSavior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a ^asign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, ^dglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.