After those days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and she stayed in seclusion for five months, saying,

But she became very troubled by what he said and wondered what such a greeting could mean.

And consider this, your relative Elizabeth is also pregnant with a son in spite of her old age, and [even though] she was said to be unable to have children, she is now six months along.

[Upon arriving] she entered the home of Zacharias and greeted [his wife] Elizabeth.

And it happened when Elizabeth heard Mary greet her, the baby in Elizabeth's womb "kicked," and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then she spoke out in a loud voice and said, " [Mary], you are [truly] blessed [from] among [all] women, and the child you will bear [i.e., Jesus] is blessed [as well].

And she who [has] believed [the promises made by the Lord] is [truly] blessed, for the things which have been spoken to her [i.e., to Mary] by the Lord will [indeed] be fulfilled."

Now when Elizabeth was due to deliver, she gave birth to a son.

So, she bore her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in [linen] cloths and laid Him in an animal's feeding trough because there was no room for them in the lodge.

And there was a woman prophet named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher [i.e., she was a descendant of one of Jacob's son]. (She was very old, having lived with her husband for [only] seven years after being married,

and has been a widow [all these years], and is now eighty-four years old.) She has never left the Temple, but worships [God] by fasting [i.e., going without food and/or water for religious reasons] and praying night and day.

She came forward at that very time and thanked God [in prayer] and spoke about the child [Jesus] to everyone [in the Temple area] who was expecting the redemption of the people of Jerusalem [i.e., their liberation from sin].

who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech,

So, He stood over her and spoke sternly to the fever. It left her and she got up [out of bed] and began serving them.

And when a sinful woman from the town learned that He was having dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of liquid perfume,

and stood behind Jesus, at His feet, crying. She began wetting His feet with her tears and wiping them dry with the hair of her head. Then she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who touched him and what kind of a woman she was --- a sinner."

Then Jesus turned to the woman [who had just poured the perfume on Him] and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me any water for [washing] my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss [of greeting], but from the time I came in [to your house] she has not stopped kissing my feet.

You did not pour [aromatic] oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet.

For this reason, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. [Note: This suggests that her forgiveness was the result of her loving, but the point Jesus makes better fits the idea that her forgiveness produced love]. But the person who is forgiven of little [i.e., of only a few sins], loves [only] a little bit."

And when the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling [with fear] and fell down in front of Him, declaring before all the people why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed.

But when Jesus heard this, He said [to the man], "Do not be afraid. Just believe [i.e., in my power to restore your daughter] and she will be made well [i.e., restored to life]."

And they laughed at Him scornfully, knowing that she was [already] dead.

And immediately her spirit returned and she stood up. Then Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

And she had a sister named Mary who was also sitting at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said.

The queen of the South [Note: This queen was from Sheba, which was probably in Arabia. See I Kings 10:1] will stand up on the judgment day, along with the people of this generation, and will condemn them because she came from a great distance to hear [and see] Solomon's wisdom [I Kings 10:1ff] and [now] Someone greater than Solomon is here [i.e., Jesus].

so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the beginning of the world, may be required of this generation of people.'

And just then [He met] a woman who had an [evil] spirit that had caused her to be deformed for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not raise herself up. [Note: This was probably osteomyelitis or osteoporosis].

Then He placed His hands on her and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Or what woman, who has ten silver coins [Note: These coins each amounted to about one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994], and if she loses one of them, would not light a lamp, sweep the house and search for it diligently until she finds it?

And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I found the coin I had lost.'

"Every person who divorces his wife and marries another woman becomes sexually unfaithful to her [i.e., because he is still regarded by God as married to his first wife. See Matt. 19:9]. And the person who marries someone who has been divorced by her husband commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband].

I will grant her a [favorable] judgment because she keeps bothering me [about the matter] and is about to exhaust my patience by her persistent visits.'"

[Now] whose wife will she be in the resurrected state, for all seven [brothers] were married to her?"

For all of them threw in from their abundance, but she threw in from her poverty all she had to live on."

Then a certain [servant] girl saw Peter sitting there in the light of the fire. As she stared at him she said, "This man was with Jesus, too."