18 [ref]Now this is how the birth of Yeshua came about: Maria his mother was engaged to Yosef. But before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the work of the holy spirit. 19 But Yosef, her husband to be was a good man, and not wishing to disgrace Maria, he decided to quietly divorce her. 20 But as he was pondering this, one of God’s messengers appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Yosef, descendant of King David, don’t to be afraid to marry Maria because the baby in her has been conceived by the holy spirit. 21 [ref]In due course she will have a son and you’ll name him Yeshua, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this happened in fulfilment of what the God had said through the prophet, 23 [ref]“Listen, the virgin will get pregnant and she will have a son, and they will call him Immanuel (in Hebrew) which means ‘God with us.’ ”

24 Then Yosef got up and did what God’s messenger had commanded him and he went ahead and married Maria 25 [ref]but he didn’t sleep with her until after she gave birth. And Yosef named the boy Yeshua.

26 When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent his messenger Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in the Galilee region. 27 [ref]Gabriel went to a young woman named Maria who was engaged to be married to Yosef, a descendant of King David, 28 and entering the room, spoke to her, “Hello there. The master is with you and he’s chosen you to be honoured.” 29 Maria was very puzzled by the statement and wondered what kind of greeting it could be 30 as the messenger continued, “Don’t be scared, Maria, because you have found God’s favour 31 [ref]and listen, you will conceive a baby and go on to give birth to a son, and you should name him Yeshua. 32 [ref]He will be very special and will be called the son of the highest one, and God the master will give him the throne of David, his ancestor. 33 He will reign over Yacob’s descendants throughout the ages, and his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How would this work,” Maria asked the messenger, “because I’ve never slept with a guy?”

35 “The holy spirit will come over you,” answered the messenger, “and the power of the highest one will overshadow you, and so the holy child that will be born will be called God’s son. 36 Also, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age—the one who was called barren is now six months pregnant 37 [ref]because with God, his statements always come to pass.”

38 “Look here,” said Maria, “I’m the master’s servant girl. May everything you said come true.” Then the messenger left her.

2 At that time, Caesar Augustus sent a decree that everyone throughout the empire needed to register in a census. 2 (This census was conducted when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.) 3 Everyone had to officially register in the city where they were born.

4 Because Yosef was a descendant of King David, he left the town of Nazareth in the Galilee region and went down to David’s town of Bethlehem in Yudea 5 to register along with Maria, his pregnant fiancée. 6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to give birth 7 and so Maria bore her first son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and slept him in an empty feeding trough, because they had missed out on the guest room.