Luke 1:39-80 (New American Standard)

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 Now ^aat this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to ¹the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb ; and Elizabeth was ²filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb ! 43 "And ^bhow has it happened to me, that the mother of ³my Lord would come to me? 44 "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. 45 "And ⁴blessed is she who ^cbelieved that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^dby the Lord."

The Magnificat

46 And Mary said : "⁵My soul ^e6exalts the Lord, 47 And ⁷my spirit has rejoiced in ⁸God my Savior. 48 "For ⁹He has had regard for the humble state of His ^fbondslave ; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me ¹⁰blessed. 49 "For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. 50 "¹¹AND HIS MERCY IS ^gUPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. 51 "¹²He has done ^hmighty deeds with His arm ; He has scattered those who were proud in the ⁱthoughts of their heart. 52 "He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has ¹³exalted those who were humble. 53 "¹⁴HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS ; And sent away the rich empty-handed. 54 "He has given help to Israel His servant, ^jIn remembrance of His mercy, 55 ¹⁵As He spoke to our fathers, ¹⁶To Abraham and his ^kdescendants forever." 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John Is Born

57 Now the time ^lhad come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^m17displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her. 59 And it happened that on ¹⁸the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, ⁿafter his father. 60 But his mother answered and said, "No indeed ; but ¹⁹he shall be called John." 61 And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name." 62 And they ²⁰made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, "²¹His name is John." And they were all astonished. 64 ²²And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all ²³the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, "What then will this child turn out to be?" For ²⁴the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Zacharias's Prophecy

67 And his father Zacharias ²⁵was filled with the Holy Spirit, and ²⁶prophesied, saying : 68 "²⁷Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished ²⁸redemption for His people, 69 And has raised up a ²⁹horn of salvation for us In the house of David ³⁰His servant - 70 ³¹As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets ³²from of old - 71 ^o33Salvation ³⁴FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US; 72 ³⁵To show mercy toward our fathers, ³⁶And to remember His holy covenant, 73 ³⁷The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, 74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75 ³⁸In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 76 "And you, child, will be called the ³⁹prophet of ⁴⁰the Most High ; For you will go on ⁴¹BEFORE THE LORD TO ⁴²PREPARE HIS WAYS ; 77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation ^pBy ⁴³the forgiveness of their sins, 78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which ⁴⁴the Sunrise from on high will visit us, 79 ⁴⁵TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the ⁴⁶way of peace." 80 ⁴⁷And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.