The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ Now the birth of ^(A)Jesus Christ^[a] took place in this way. ^(B)When his mother Mary had been betrothed^[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child ^(C)from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling ^(D)to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, ^(E)an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and ^(F)you shall call his name Jesus, ^(G)for he will save his people from their sins.” ^22 (H)All this took place ^(I)to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

(which means, God ^(L)with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And ^(M)he called his name Jesus.

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(B)Nazareth, ^27 (C)to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(E)O favored one, ^(F)the Lord is with you!”^{[b] 29} But ^(G)she 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 ^(H)you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, ^(I)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(J)you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(K)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(L)will give to him the throne of ^(M)his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(N)forever, 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?”^[c]

³⁵ And the angel answered her, ^(O)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(P)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called ^(Q)holy—^(R)the 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 ^(S)who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(T)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(U)the angel departed from her.

The Word Became Flesh

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and ^(C)the Word was with God, and ^(D)the Word was God.

²⁸ Thomas answered him, ^(A)“My Lord and my God!”

⁵ To them belong ^(A)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(B)who is God over all, ^(C)blessed forever. Amen.

^21 (A)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(B)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(C)the righteousness of God.

²¹ For ^(A)to this you have been called, ^(B)because Christ also suffered for you, ^(C)leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ^22 (D)He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ^23 (E)When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, ^(F)but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

The Purpose of This Book

^30 (A)Now Jesus did many other signs ^(B)in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

^31 (A)but these are written so that you may ^(B)believe that Jesus is the Christ, ^(C)the Son of God, and that by believing ^(D)you may have life ^(E)in his name.