Luke:1:15-66
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for he will be great before the Lord ,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink ,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ,
even from his mother '
s womb .
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And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God ,
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and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli '
jah ,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children ,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared ."
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And Zechari '
ah said to the angel , "
How shall I know this ?
For I am an old man ,
and my wife is advanced in years ."
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And the angel answered him , "
I am Gabriel ,
who stand in the presence of God ;
and I was sent to speak to you ,
and to bring you this good news .
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And behold ,
you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass ,
because you did not believe my words ,
which will be fulfilled in their time ."
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And the people were waiting for Zechari '
ah ,
and they wondered at his delay in the temple .
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And when he came out ,
he could not speak to them ,
and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple ;
and he made signs to them and remained dumb .
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And when his time of service was ended ,
he went to his home .
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After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived ,
and for five months she hid herself ,
saying ,
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Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me ,
to take away my reproach among men ."
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In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth ,
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to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph ,
of the house of David ;
and the virgin '
s name was Mary .
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And he came to her and said , "
Hail ,
O favored one ,
the Lord is with you !"
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But she was greatly troubled at the saying ,
and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be .
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And the angel said to her , "
Do not be afraid ,
Mary ,
for you have found favor with God .
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And behold ,
you will conceive in your womb and bear a son ,
and you shall call his name Jesus .
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He will be great ,
and will be called the Son of the Most High ;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David ,
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and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever ;
and of his kingdom there will be no end ."
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And Mary said to the angel , "
How shall this be ,
since I have no husband ?"
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And the angel said to her , "
The Holy Spirit will come upon you ,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you ;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy ,
the Son of God .
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And behold ,
your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son ;
and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren .
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For with God nothing will be impossible ."
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And Mary said , "
Behold ,
I am the handmaid of the Lord ;
let it be to me according to your word ."
And the angel departed from her .
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In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country ,
to a city of Judah ,
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and she entered the house of Zechari '
ah and greeted Elizabeth .
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And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary ,
the babe leaped in her womb ;
and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
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and she exclaimed with a loud cry , "
Blessed are you among women ,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb !
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And why is this granted me ,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me ?
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For behold ,
when the voice of your greeting came to my ears ,
the babe in my womb leaped for joy .
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And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord ."
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And Mary said , "
My soul magnifies the Lord ,
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and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ,
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for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden .
For behold ,
henceforth all generations will call me blessed ;
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for he who is mighty has done great things for me ,
and holy is his name .
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And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation .
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He has shown strength with his arm ,
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts ,
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he has put down the mighty from their thrones ,
and exalted those of low degree ;
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he has filled the hungry with good things ,
and the rich he has sent empty away .
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He has helped his servant Israel ,
in remembrance of his mercy ,
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as he spoke to our fathers ,
to Abraham and to his posterity for ever ."
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And Mary remained with her about three months ,
and returned to her home .
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Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered ,
and she gave birth to a son .
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And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her ,
and they rejoiced with her .
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And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child ;
and they would have named him Zechari '
ah after his father ,
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but his mother said , "
Not so ;
he shall be called John ."
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And they said to her , "
None of your kindred is called by this name ."
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And they made signs to his father ,
inquiring what he would have him called .
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And he asked for a writing tablet ,
and wrote , "
His name is John ."
And they all marveled .
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And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed ,
and he spoke ,
blessing God .
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And fear came on all their neighbors .
And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea ;
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and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts ,
saying , "
What then will this child be ?"
For the hand of the Lord was with him .
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