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.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶ As they were talking about these things, ^(A)Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷ But they were ^(B)startled and ^(C)frightened and ^(D)thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. ^(E)Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ And when he had said this, ^(F)he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ And while they still disbelieved ^(G)for joy and were marveling, ^(H)he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish,^{[a] 43} and he took it and ate before them.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, ^(I)“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, ^(J)that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then ^(K)he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus ^(L)it is written, ^(M)that the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^(N)rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that ^(O)repentance for^[b] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^(P)in his name ^(Q)to all nations, ^(R)beginning from Jerusalem. ^48 (S)You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending ^(T)the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ^(U)are clothed with ^(V)power ^(W)from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And ^(X)he led them out as far as ^(Y)Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, ^(Z)he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they ^(AA)worshiped him and ^(AB)returned to Jerusalem ^(AC)with great joy, ⁵³ and ^(AD)were continually in the temple ^(AE)blessing God.

⁴ For if God did not spare ^(A)angels when they sinned, but ^(B)cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness ^(C)to be kept until the judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world, but ^(D)preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ^(E)a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ if by ^(F)turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ^(G)making them an example of ^(H)what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{[c] 7} and ^(I)if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ^(J)he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); ⁹ then ^(K)the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,^[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially ^(L)those who indulge^[e] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(M)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(N)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ^11 (O)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.