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 Birth of Jesus Christ

1 In those days ^la decree went out from ^mCaesar Augustus that all the world should be ⁿregistered. 2 This was the first ⁿregistration when¹ Quirinius ^owas governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up ^pfrom Galilee, from the town of ^qNazareth, to Judea, to ^rthe city of David, which is called ^sBethlehem, ^tbecause he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,² who was with child. 6 And ^twhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^uwrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^vlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^wthe inn.³

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord ^xappeared to them, and ^ythe glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^zthe people. 11 For ^aunto you is born this day in ^bthe city of David ^ca Savior, who is ^dChrist ^ethe Lord. 12 And ^fthis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^gwrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel ^ha multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^mlying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But ⁿMary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, ^oglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And ^pat the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, ^qhe was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.