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Gospel Reading - The message of Gabriel

²⁶The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

²⁸Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you!”^a

²⁹Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

³⁰“Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! ³¹Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him ‘Jesus.’ ³² He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God. And the Lord God shall give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³And he shall reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom shall never end!”

³⁴Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”

³⁵The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of God shall overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy — the Son of God. ³⁶Furthermore, six months ago your Aunt^b Elizabeth — ‘the barren one,’ they called her — became pregnant in her old age! ³⁷For every promise from God shall surely come true.”

³⁸Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you said come true.” And then the angel disappeared.

1. Some ancient versions add, “Blessed are you among women,” as in v. 42, which appears in all manuscripts.
2. Literally, “relative.”