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

18 ^qNow the birth of Jesus Christ¹ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been ^rbetrothed² to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^sfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to ^tdivorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an ^uangel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall ^vcall his name Jesus, for he will ^wsave his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place ^xto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, ^cGod ^dwith us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but ^eknew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.