²¹ And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,

²² and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb.

²³ And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house,

²⁴ and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying --

²⁵ `Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon [me], to take away my reproach among men.'

²⁶ And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which [is] Nazareth,

²⁷ to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name [is] Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin [is] Mary.

²⁸ And the messenger having come in unto her, said, `Hail, favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;'

²⁹ and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be.

³⁰ And the messenger said to her, `Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God;

³¹ and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus;

³² he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father,

³³ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.'

³⁴ And Mary said unto the messenger, `How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?'

³⁵ And the messenger answering said to her, `The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;

³⁶ and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;

³⁷ because nothing shall be impossible with God.'

³⁸ And Mary said, `Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,' and the messenger went away from her.