Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin ^(A)betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, ^(B)“Rejoice, highly favored one, ^(C)the Lord is with you; ^[a]blessed are you among women!”

²⁹ But ^[b]when she saw him, ^(D)she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found ^(E)favor with God. ^31 (F)And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and ^(G)shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, ^(H)and will be called the Son of the Highest; and ^(I)the Lord God will give Him the ^(J)throne of His ^(K)father David. ^33 (L)And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I ^[c]do not know a man?”

³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, ^(M)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called ^(N)the Son of God. ³⁶ Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For ^(O)with God nothing will be impossible.”

³⁸ Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples^(A)

^36 (B)Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen ^(C)a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. ^(D)Handle Me and see, for a ^(E)spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

^40 [a]When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ But while they still did not believe ^(F)for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ^(G)“Have you any food here?” ⁴² So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish ^[b]and some honeycomb. ^43 (H)And He took it and ate in their presence.

The Scriptures Opened

⁴⁴ Then He said to them, ^(I)“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” ⁴⁵ And ^(J)He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

⁴⁶ Then He said to them, ^(K)“Thus it is written, ^[c]and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and ^(L)remission of sins should be preached in His name ^(M)to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ And ^(N)you are witnesses of these things. ^49 (O)Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city ^[d]of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Ascension^(P)

⁵⁰ And He led them out ^(Q)as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ^51 (R)Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. ^52 (S)And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually ^(T)in the temple ^[e]praising and blessing God. ^[f]Amen.

Doom of False Teachers

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to ^[a]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of ^(A)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and ^(B)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, ^(C)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then ^(D)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially ^(E)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^(F)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of ^[b]dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas ^(G)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.