In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent to a city of Galilee, whose name is Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of this virgin was Mary. And going into her presence, he said: Hail, favored one; the Lord is with you. She was disturbed at what he said and asked herself what this greeting might mean. And the angel said to her: Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God; and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and called son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his forefather, and he will be king over the house of Jacob through the ages, and of his Kingdom there will be no end. But Mary said to the angeclass="underline" How shall this be, since I know no man? And the angel answered and said to her: The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore the offspring will be called holy, the son of God. And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman, she also has conceived a son, in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who had been called barren; because nothing at all will be impossible for God. Mary said: Here is the slave of the Lord. May it happen to me as you have said. And the angel left her.
And Mary rose up in those days and journeyed in haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zachariah and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she spoke out with a great cry and said: Blessed are you among women, and blessed the fruit of your womb. And how did it befall me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the child leapt for joy in my womb. And blessed is she who believed that there will be fulfillment of what was told her from the Lord. Then Mary said: My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, because he cast down his eyes to the low estate of his slave girl. Behold, after now all the generations will bless me; because the mighty one has done great things for me, and his name is holy; and his mercy is for generations and generations, for those who fear him. He has taken power into his arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has pulled down the dynasts from their thrones, and raised up the humble; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has reached out his hand to Israel his servant, through the memory of mercy; as he said to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.
And Mary remained with her for about three months, and then returned to her own house.
For Elizabeth her time was completed, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had made great his mercy in her case, and they rejoiced with her. And it came about that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the baby; and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zachariah. Then his mother spoke forth and said: No, but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is no one in your kindred who is called by that name. And they made signs to his father, to learn what he wished him to be called. And he asked for a tablet and wrote, saying: John is his name. And all were amazed. But his mouth was set free at once, and his tongue, and he spoke praising God. And fear came upon all those who lived about them, and in all the hill country of Judaea all these sayings were repeated, and those who heard them laid them in their hearts, saying: What will this child be? The hand of the Lord is with him. And Zachariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied, saying: Praised be the Lord God of Israel, because he visited his people and wrought their deliverance, and raised up our hom of salvation in the house of David, his servant; as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old; safety from our enemies and the hand of all those who hate us, to work mercy with our fathers and to remember his holy convenant; the oath he swore to Abraham our father, to grant that we be rescued without fear from the hand of our enemies, to serve him in piety and righteousness before his presence all our days. And you, child, will be called prophet of the highest, and go before the presence of the Lord to make ready his ways, to grant to his people knowledge of their salvation through the remission of their sins; through the compassionate mercy of our Lord whereby the sunrise shall shine upon us from on high, to illuminate those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he was in the desert until the day of his appearance before Israel.
41 It happened in those days that a decree went forth from Augustus Caesar that all the world should be enrolled in a census. This was the first census, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judaea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to be enrolled with Mary his promised wife, who was pregnant. And it happened that while they were there her time was completed, and she bore a son, her first-born, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in that region, camping out at night and keeping guard over their flock. And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them, and they were afraid with a great fear. The angel said to them: Do not be afraid; behold, I tell you good news, great joy which shall be for all the people; because this day there has been born for you in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly with the angel there was a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among men of good will. And it happened that after the angels had gone off from them into the sky, the shepherds began saying to each other: Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord made known to us; and they went, hastening, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger; and when they had seen, they spread the news about what had been told them concerning this baby. And all who heard wondered at what had been told them by the shepherds; and Mary kept in mind all these sayings as she pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God over all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
And when eight days were past, for his circumcision,
his name was called Jesus, as it was named by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, they took him up to Jerusalem to set him before the Lord, as it has been written in the Law of the Lord: Every male child who opens the womb shall be called sacred to the Lord; and to give sacrifice as it is stated in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and virtuous and looked forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him; and it had been prophesied to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not look upon his death until he had looked on the Lord's Anointed. And in the spirit he went into the temple; and as his parents brought in the child Jesus so that they could do for him what was customary according to the law, Simeon himself took him in his arms and blessed God and said: Now, Lord, you release your slave, in peace, according to your word; because my eyes have looked on your salvation, what you made ready in the presence of all the peoples; a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people, Israel. And his father and his mother were in wonder at what was being said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold, he is appointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel; and as a sign which is disputed; and through your soul also will pass the sword; so that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed. And there was Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. And she was well advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from the time of her maidenhood, and now she was eighty-four years a widow. And she did not leave the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at this same time she came near and gave thanks to God and spoke of the child to those who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.