26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, the name of which was Nazareth, 27to a virgin of the house of David, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And the angel coming in to her said, All hail! O thou highly favoured one! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And when she saw him, she was greatly agitated at his address: and reasoned in herself what kind of salutation this could be. 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father; 33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34And Mary said, How shall this be, seeing I know not man? 35And the angel answering said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also the Holy One that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. 36And, behold, Elisabeth thy cousin, she also hath conceived in her old age: and this is the fifth month of pregnancy with her who was called barren. 37For there is nothing impossible with God. 38Then said Mary, Behold a servant of the Lord, be it to me according to thy declaration. And the angel departed from her.
39Then Mary arose in those days, and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40and entered into the house of Zachariah, and saluted Elisabeth. 41And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped for joy in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42and she exclaimed with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43And whence is this favour shewn me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For, lo! as the voice of thy salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped for joy in my womb. 45And blessed is she that hath believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things told her from the Lord.
46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47and my spirit hath exulted in God my Saviour: 48for he hath looked upon the lowly state of his maid-servant: for, lo! henceforth shall all generations pronounce me blessed. 49For the Mighty One hath done great things for me; and holy is his name. 50And his mercy is upon those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51He hath displayed strength from his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52He hath cast down potentates from the throne, and hath exalted the lowly. 53He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54He hath succoured Israel his servant, that he might be mindful of mercy for ever; 55as he had spoken to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed. 56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her home.
57Now Elisabeth’s time was up that she should be delivered; and she brought a son. 58And her neighbours and her relations heard, that the Lord had magnified his mercy upon her; and they congratulated her. 59And it came to pass, on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him after the name of his father, Zacharias. 60And his mother spake and said, No; but he shall be called John. 61And they said to her, There is not one among thy relations, who is called by this name. 62And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. 63And desiring a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, John is his name. And they were all surprised. 64Instantly then his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he burst out in praises to God. 65And great awe fell on all those who dwelt around them: and in all the mountainous country of Judea, all these circumstances were the subject of conversation. 66And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, Well! what a child will this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
67And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; for he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people; 69and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David: 70as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been from the beginning: 71even preservation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72to perform mercy towards our fathers, and to remember his own holy covenant: 73the oath which he sware to Abraham our father, 74to give us, that we, secure from fear, rescued from the hands of our enemies, should serve him, 75in righteousness and holiness before him, all the days of our life. 76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77to give the knowledge of salvation to his people, by the remission of their sins, 78through the bowels of mercy of our God; with which he hath visited us, as the dawn of the morning from on high, 79to illumine those who sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace. 80And the child grew, and became mighty in spirit, and was in the deserts until the days of his public exhibition to Israel.
[CHAP. II.]
NOW it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that the whole land should be registered. 2(And this first enrolment was made by Cyrenius, afterwards governor of Syria) 3And all went to be registered, every one to his own city. 4Then Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and family of David; 5to be enregistered with Mary, the wife espoused to him, who was big with child. 6And it came to pass, while they were there, that her time was up, that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth a son, her first-born, and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were shepherds in that country abiding in the open air, and keeping guard over their flock by night. 9And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were exceedingly affrighted. 10And the angel said unto them, Be not affrighted: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people. 11Because this day there is born for you a Saviour, which is Messiah, the Lord, in the city of David. 12And this shall be a sign for you; Ye shall find the babe in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 14Glory in the highest heavens to God! and upon earth, peace! towards men complacence. 15And it came to pass, as the angels went from them into heaven, the men, the shepherds, said also to each other, Let us now go to Bethlehem, and see this thing which hath happened, which the Lord hath made known to us. 16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe, lying in the manger: 17and when they saw it, they made a public report of the declaration delivered to them respecting this child. 18And all who heard it, marvelled at the things told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary carefully preserved all these declarations, laying them together in her heart, in order to apprehend their meaning. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen, exactly as had been told them.
21And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising the child, his name also was called JESUS, the name imposed by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
22And when the days of her purification were accomplished according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; 23as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male child, that openeth the womb, shall be called holy to the Lord; 24and to offer a sacrifice, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.