And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were far advanced in years.

Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God.

and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child!

So it was time for Elizabeth to bear a child, and she bore a son.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they tried to name him Zechariah, after his father.

and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways,

Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.

Now in those days an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken.

When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not die without seeing the Lord's Messiah.

So under the Spirit's guidance he went into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus there to do for Him as the custom of the law required,

Then Symeon gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child's mother, "This child is destined to bring the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign continuously disputed --

Just at that time she came up and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.

And the child continued to grow and gain in strength; He continued to increase in wisdom, and the spiritual blessing of God was on Him.

When His parents saw Him, they were utterly amazed, and yet His mother said to Him, "My child, why did you treat us so? Just see how your father and I, in agony of mind, have been searching for you!"

So John called two of them to him and sent them to the Lord, to ask, "Are you the One who was to come, or should we continue to look for someone else?"

So the men went to Him and said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the One who was to come, or should we continue to look for someone else?'"

When He reached the house, He let no one go in with Him but Peter, James, and John, and the child's father and mother.

But He grasped her hand and called out, "My child, get up!"

Then a man in the crowd at once shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he is my only child;

But Jesus, as He knew that the controversy was going on in their hearts, took a little child and had it stand by His side.

Then He said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child on my account is welcoming me, and whoever welcomes me is welcoming Him who sent me; for the one who is lowliest among you all is really great."

Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;

So if you cannot do this very little thing, why should you worry about the rest?

Then he said to him, 'My child, you have been with me all the time, and all I have is yours.

But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there.

I solemnly say to you, Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child does, will never get into it at all."

But he said, "I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child."

Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my dearly loved son. They will, I should think, respect him.'

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us a law that, if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, the man should take the widow and raise up a family for his brother.

and the third, married her; as also the seven did who died but left no child.

There arose also among them a contention as to which one of them should rank as greatest.

and said to them, "The Scriptures said that the Christ should suffer as He has suffered, should rise from the dead on the third day,

and that in His name repentance as the condition for the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all the nations. Beginning at Jerusalem