Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and give birth to a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’
- KJV And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
- NKJV And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
- NASB And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
- NLT You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Mary will conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus. The Savior's coming is announced.
Overview
The name Jesus means 'the Lord saves,' revealing the child's mission. This is the heart of the annunciation: God himself will enter the world through Mary. The promised Messiah is now named and his birth foretold.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 7:14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Matt 1:21She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Matt 1:25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.
- Luke 2:21When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.
- Matt 1:23“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Gal 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Luke 1:13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
- Luke 1:27to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.