The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 Now the birth of ^uJesus Christ¹ took place in this way. ^vWhen his mother Mary had been betrothed² to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^wfrom the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling ^xto put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, ^yan angel 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 ^zyou shall call his name Jesus, ^afor he will save his people from their sins.” 22 ^bAll this took place ^cto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

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

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.

The Word Became Flesh

1 ^aIn the beginning was ^bthe Word, and ^cthe Word was with God, and ^dthe Word was God.

28 Thomas answered him, ^s“My Lord and my God!”

5 To them belong ^lthe patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^mwho is God over all, ⁿblessed forever. Amen.

39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

21 ^qFor our sake he made him to be sin ^rwho knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^sthe righteousness of God.

21 For ^zto this you have been called, ^ybecause Christ also suffered for you, ^aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 ^bHe committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 ^cWhen he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, ^dbut continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

The Purpose of This Book

30 ^uNow Jesus did many other signs ^vin the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 ^wbut these are written so that you may ^xbelieve that Jesus is the Christ, ^ythe Son of God, and that by believing ^zyou may have life ^ain his name.

28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^kto serve, and ^lto give his life as a ransom for ^mmany.”

4 ^heven as he ⁱchose us in him ^jbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be ^kholy and blameless before him. In love

11 and said, ^y“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^zwill ^acome in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

6 For ^jwhile we were still weak, at the right time ^kChrist died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but ^lGod shows his love for us in that ^mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 We know that ^cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^ddeath no longer has dominion over him.

10 For the death he died he died to sin, ^eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost^{1 k}those who draw near to God ^lthrough him, since he always lives ^mto make intercession for them.

28 so Christ, having been offered once ^qto bear the sins of ^rmany, will appear ^sa second time, ^tnot to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^uwaiting for him.

16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: