CHAPTER 1. _Palestine. Birth of Mary. Joachim’s feast. Mary is blest by the priests. His prophecy. Mary abides in the temple. Is betrothed to Joseph._ Augustus Cæsar reigned and Herod Antipas was ruler of Jerusalem. 2 Three provinces comprised the land of Palestine: Judea, and Samaria, and Galilee. 3 Joachim was a master of the Jewish law, a man of wealth; he lived in Nazareth of Galilee; and Anna, of the tribe of Judah, was his wife. 4 To them was born a child, a goodly female child, and they were glad; and Mary was the name they gave the child. 5 Joachim made a feast in honor of the child; but he invited not the rich, the honored and the great; he called the poor, the halt, the lame, the blind, and to each one he gave a gift of raiment, food, or other needful thing. 6 He said, The Lord has given me this wealth; I am his steward by his grace, and if I give not to his children when in need, then he will make this wealth a curse. 7 Now, when the child was three years old her parents took her to Jerusalem, and in the temple she received the blessings of the priests. 8 The high priest was a prophet and a seer, and when he saw the child he said, 9 Behold, this child will be the mother of an honored prophet and a master of the law; she shall abide within this holy temple of the Lord. 10 And Mary did abide within the temple of the Lord; and Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, taught her all the precepts of the Jews, and she delighted in the law of God. 11 When Mary reached the age of womanhood she was betrothed to Joseph, son of Jacob, and a carpenter of Nazareth. 12 And Joseph was an upright man; and a devoted Essenes. SECTION II. BETH. _Birth and Infancy of John, the Harbinger, and of Jesus._ CHAPTER 2. _Zacharias and Elizabeth. Prophetic messages of Gabriel to Zacharias, Elizabeth and Mary. Birth of John. Prophecy of Zacharias._ Near Hebron in the hills of Judah, Zacharias and Elizabeth abode. 2 They were devout and just, and every day they read the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms which told of one to come, strong to redeem; and they were waiting for the king. 3 Now, Zacharias was a priest, and in his turn he led the temple service in Jerusalem. 4 It came to pass as Zacharias stood before the Lord and burned the incense in the Holy Place, that Gabriel came and stood before his face. 5 And Zacharias was afraid; he thought that some great evil was about to come upon the Jews. 6 But Gabriel said, O man of God, fear not; I bring to you, and all the world, a message of good will, and peace on earth. 7 Behold, the Prince of Peace, the king you seek, will quickly come. 8 Your wife will bear to you a son, a holy son, of whom the prophet wrote, 9 Behold, I send Elijah unto you again before the coming of the Lord; and he will level down the hills and fill the valleys up, and pave the way for him who shall redeem.