²⁶ Now in the sixth month [after that], the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth,

²⁷ To a girl never having been married and a ^[a]virgin engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸ And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one [^[b]endued with grace]! The Lord is with you! ^[c]Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women!

²⁹ But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled and disturbed and confused at what he said and kept revolving in her mind what such a greeting might mean.

³⁰ And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace (^[d]free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God.

³¹ And listen! You will become pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus.

³² He will be great (eminent) and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His forefather David,

³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages; and of His reign there will be no end.^(A)

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no [intimacy with any man as a] husband?

³⁵ Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.^(B)

³⁶ And listen! Your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is now the sixth month with her who was called barren.

³⁷ For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.

³⁸ Then Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said. And the angel left her.

³⁹ And at that time Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town of Judah,

⁴⁰ And she went to the house of Zachariah and, entering it, saluted Elizabeth.

⁴¹ And it occurred that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

⁴² And she cried out with a loud cry, and then exclaimed, Blessed (favored of God) above all other women are you! And blessed (favored of God) is the Fruit of your womb!

⁴³ And how [have I deserved that this honor should] be granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴ For behold, the instant the sound of your salutation reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵ And blessed (happy, ^[e]to be envied) is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.

⁴⁶ And Mary said, My soul magnifies and extols the Lord,

⁴⁷ And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸ For He has looked upon the low station and humiliation of His handmaiden. For behold, from now on all generations [of all ages] will call me blessed and declare me happy and ^[f]to be envied!

⁴⁹ For He Who is almighty has done great things for me—and holy is His name [to be venerated in His purity, majesty and glory]!

⁵⁰ And His mercy (His compassion and kindness toward the miserable and afflicted) is on those who fear Him with godly reverence, from generation to generation and age to age.^(C)

⁵¹ He has shown strength and ^[g]made might with His arm; He has scattered the proud and haughty in and by the imagination and purpose and designs of their hearts.

⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree.

⁵³ He has filled and satisfied the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty-handed [without a gift].

⁵⁴ He has laid hold on His servant Israel [to help him, to espouse his cause], in remembrance of His mercy,

⁵⁵ Even as He promised to our forefathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.^(D)

⁵⁶ And Mary remained with her [Elizabeth] for about three months and [then] returned to her [own] home.

2 In those days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole ^[a]Roman empire should be registered.

² This was the first enrollment, and it was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

³ And all the people were going to be registered, each to his own city or town.

⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

⁵ To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused (^[b]married) wife, who was about to become a mother.^(A)

⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her delivery,

⁷ And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.