Luke 1:26-66

Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called ^(B)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(C)a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the ^[a]house of David, and the virgin’s name was ^[b]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, ^[c]favored one! The Lord ^[d]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(E)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(F)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you ^(G)shall name Him Jesus. ^32 [e]He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(H)the Most High, and the ^[f]Lord God will give Him ^(I)the throne of His father David, ^33 (J)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(K)and there will be no end of His kingdom.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[g]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(L)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(M)the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason ^[h](N)the holy Child shall be called ^(O)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^[i](P)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the slave of the ^[j]Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[k]at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to ^(Q)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(R)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[l]how has it happened to me, that the mother of ^(S)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(T)blessed is she who believed ^[m]that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[n]by the ^[o]Lord.”

Mary Magnifies the Lord

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to ^[t]give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^(AG)magnified His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(AH)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after the name of his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered and said, “No, but ^(AI)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² And they ^(AJ)were making signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “^(AK)His name is John.” And they all marveled. ^64 (AL)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those living around them, and all these matters were being talked about in all ^(AM)the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ And all who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” For ^(AN)the hand of the ^[u]Lord was indeed with him.