Luke 1:35-80 Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God.

Williams⁽ⁱ⁾ ³⁵ Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God. ³⁶ And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing is ever impossible for God." ³⁸ Then Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. May what you say take place with me." Then the angel left her. ³⁹ Now in those days Mary got up and hurried off to the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she went to Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child! ⁴³ Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy within me! ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled." ⁴⁶ Then Mary said: "My soul extols the Lord; ⁴⁷ my spirit exults in God my Saviour; ⁴⁸ for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy! ⁴⁹ For the Almighty has done wonders for me, and holy is His name! ⁵⁰ He shows His mercy from age to age to those who fear him. ⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those that are proud in the purpose of their hearts. ⁵² He has dethroned monarchs and exalted the poor. ⁵³ He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, so as to remember mercy, ⁵⁵ as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his descendants forever." ⁵⁶ Now Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned home. ⁵⁷ So it was time for Elizabeth to bear a child, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and so they were rejoicing with her. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they tried to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother said, "Never! But he must be named John." ⁶¹ Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name." ⁶² So they began to make signs to his father to find out what he might wish him to be named. ⁶³ Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ Then the use of his voice and tongue was at once restored,: and he began to speak, and continued to praise God. ⁶⁵ And all the neighbors were overwhelmed with awe, and all over the hill country of Judea these things were being talked, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷ Now his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he uttered the following prophecy: ⁶⁸ "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has come and brought His people deliverance; ⁶⁹ and He has made a mighty Saviour for us in the house of His servant David, ⁷⁰ "as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets, ⁷¹ deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our forefathers, and carry out His sacred covenant, ⁷³ the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham, ⁷⁴ to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him ⁷⁵ in holiness and uprightness In His own presence all our days. ⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways, ⁷⁷ to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. ⁷⁸ Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." ⁸⁰ Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.