Luke 1:46-80

New American Standard Bible

Mary’s Song: The Magnificat

⁴⁶And Mary said:

“^(A)My soul ^[a]^(B)exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷And ^(C)my spirit has rejoiced in ^(D)God my Savior.
⁴⁸For ^(E)He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will ^[b]call me ^(F)blessed.
⁴⁹For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰^(G)And His mercy is to generation ^[c]after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
⁵¹^(H)He has done ^[d]mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the ^[e]thoughts of their hearts.
⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has ^(I)exalted those who were humble.
⁵³^(J)He has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty-handed.
⁵⁴He has given help to His servant Israel,
^[f]In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵^(K)Just as He spoke to our fathers,
^(L)To Abraham and his ^[g]descendants forever.”

⁵⁶Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷Now the time ^[h]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[i]^(M)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹And it happened that on ^(N)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[j]after his father. ⁶⁰And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(O)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶²And they ^[k]^(P)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[l]as follows, “^(Q)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ⁶⁴^(R)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. ⁶⁵And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in ^(S)the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed ^(T)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah ^(U)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(V)prophesied, saying:

⁶⁸“^(W)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished ^(X)redemption for His people,
⁶⁹And has raised up a ^(Y)horn of salvation for us
In the house of ^(Z)His servant David—
⁷⁰^(AA)Just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets ^(AB)from ancient times—
⁷¹^[m]^(AC)Salvation ^(AD)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷²^(AE)To show mercy to our fathers,
^(AF)And to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³^(AG)The oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
⁷⁴To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Would serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵^(AH)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
⁷⁶And you, child, also will be called the ^(AI)prophet of ^(AJ)the Most High;
For you will go on ^(AK)before the Lord to ^(AL)prepare His ways;
⁷⁷To give His people the knowledge of salvation
^[n]By ^(AM)the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which ^(AN)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
⁷⁹^(AO)To shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the ^(AP)way of peace.”

⁸⁰^(AQ)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

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Footnotes

Luke 1:46 Lit makes great
Luke 1:48 Or consider
Luke 1:50 Lit and
Luke 1:51 Lit might
Luke 1:51 Lit thought, attitude
Luke 1:54 Lit So as to remember
Luke 1:55 Lit seed
Luke 1:57 Lit was fulfilled
Luke 1:58 Lit magnified His mercy with her
Luke 1:59 Lit after the name of
Luke 1:62 I.e., gestured or nodded
Luke 1:63 Lit saying
Luke 1:71 Or Deliverance
Luke 1:77 Or Consisting in

Hebrews 4:12

New American Standard Bible

¹²For ^(A)the word of God is ^(B)living and ^(C)active, and sharper than any two-edged ^(D)sword, even penetrating as far as the division of ^(E)soul and ^(F)spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ^(G)able to ^[a]judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.