Thematic Bible: Miraculous birth of


Thematic Bible



And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him. But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John. read more.
And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth. For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth. And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God. And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord. And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years. And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news. Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son. And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy. And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name; read more.
But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John. And they said, Not one of your relations has that name. And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him. And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised. And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God. And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.


And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons? So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. read more.
And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. For Hannah's prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you. And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad. And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain