Daily Bread

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,^{(A) 40} where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.^{(B) 42} In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women,^(C) and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord^(D) should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song^(E)

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise^(S) the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”^(T)

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶² Then they made signs^(U) to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”^{(V) 64} Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak,^(W) praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea^(X) people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.^(Y)