CHAPTER II.
MARYS VISIT TO ELIZABETH, AND THE BIRTH OF JOHN.
1 1:39AND Mary arose in those days and went in haste to the mountainous country, to the city of Juda. 1:40And she went unto the house of Zachariah and saluted Elizabeth. 1:41And when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 1:42and cried with a loud voice, and said, Blessed are you among women! and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 1:43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord has come to me? 1:44For, behold, when the voice of your salutation came to my ears, the babe leaped in my womb with exultation. 1:45And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be an accomplishment of the words spoken to her by the Lord.
2 1:46And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, 1:47and my spirit exults in God my Saviour; 1:48for he has looked on the low condition of his servant; for, behold, from this time all generations shall call me blessed, 1:49because the mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name; 1:50and his mercy is to generations and generations of them that fear him. 1:51He has made strong his arm; he has scattered the proud with the thought of their hearts; 1:52he has brought down the mighty from thrones, and exalted the humble; 1:53he has filled the hungry with goods, and sent the rich away empty. 1:54He has helped Israel his servant, and remembered his mercy, 1:55as he said to our fathers, to Abraham and his posterity forever. 1:56And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
3 1:57And when Elizabeth's time to bear had fully come, she bore a son; 1:58and her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy to her, and congratulated her. 1:59And they came on the eighth day to circumcise the little child, and called it by the name of its father, Zachariah. 1:60And his mother answered and said, No; but he shall be called John. 1:61And they said to her, There is no one of your relations who is called by this name; 1:62and they made signs to his father, what he wished it to be called. 1:63And asking for a writing-tablet, he wrote, saying, His name is John. And all wondered. 1:64And his mouth was immediately opened, and his tongue [loosed], and he spoke and blessed God. 1:65And fear came on all living around them. All these things were talked of in all the mountainous country of Judea. 1:66And all who heard laid them to heart, saying, What then is this child to be? For the hand of the Lord was also with him.
4 1:67And Zachariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, 1:68Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people, 1:69and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant; 1:70as he said by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old; 1:71A salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us, 1:72to perform his mercy with our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, 1:73the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, 1:74to grant us without fear, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, to serve him 1:75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 1:76And you, little child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, 1:77to give a knowledge of salvation to his people, with a forgiveness of sins, 1:78on account of the compassionate mercies of our God, by which a morning from on high has visited us, 1:79to illuminate those sitting in darkness and the shade of death, to direct our feet in the way of peace. 1:80And the child grew, and became strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.