conceiving a baby

³Behold, the inheritance of the Lord is sons, the reward is the fruit of the womb.

²⁶There will not be fruitless or barren ones in your land. I will fill up the number of your days.

¹⁴For this reason, the Lord himself will grant to you a sign. Behold, a virgin will conceive, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.

²⁸And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

⁹Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God?

³All things were made through Him, and nothing that was made was made without Him.

¹⁷And he is before all, and in him all things continue.

¹A Canticle in steps. Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. ²For you will eat by the labors of your hands. Blessed are you, and it will be well with you. ³Your wife is like an abundant vine on the sides of your house. Your sons are like young olive trees surrounding your table. ⁴Behold, so will the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

¹⁵Did not One make her, and is she not the remainder of his spirit? And what does one seek, except offspring of God? So then, preserve your spirit, and do not despise the wife of your youth.

²⁶Then, in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God, to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. ²⁸And upon entering, the Angel said to her: “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” ²⁹And when she had heard this, she was disturbed by his words, and she considered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰And the Angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. ³¹Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name: JESUS.

¹⁸Amen I say to you, certainly, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not one dot shall pass away from the law, until all is done.

²⁵I am. I am the very One who wipes away your iniquities for my own sake. And I will not remember your sins.

⁸The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.”

¹About the same time, Judah, descending from his brothers, turned toward an Adullamite man, named Hirah. ²And he saw there the daughter of a man called Shua, of Canaan. And taking her as a wife, he entered to her. ³And she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Er. ⁴And conceiving offspring again, having given birth to a son, she called him Onan. ⁵Likewise, she bore a third, whom she called Shelah, after whose birth, she ceased to bear any more. ⁶Then Judah gave a wife to his first born Er, whose name was Tamar.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation. ⁴He consoles us in all our tribulation, so that we too may be able to console those who are in any kind of distress, through the exhortation by which we also are being exhorted by God. ⁵For just as the Passion of Christ abounds in us, so also, through Christ, does our consolation abound.