Your husband Jehoiakim is coming with his flocks: for an angel has appeared to him and announced: Joachim, Jehoiakim, God has hearkened to your prayer. Get out of here, for your wife Anna will conceive in her womb. And Joachim went and commanded his shepherds, saying, Bring ten lambs that are clean without spots, and they will be for the Lord my God, and bring me twelve young calves, and they will be for the priests and the elders, and a hundred goats for all the people. And so Joachim came with his flocks, and Anna, who was standing at the gate, saw Joachim coming, and running up, embraced him, and said: I know now that the Lord has blessed me: being a widow, I am no longer a widow, being barren, I will now conceive! And Joachim found peace in his house that day.

V. In the morning he bore his gifts, saying: "If the Lord has had mercy on me, the golden plate of the priest will show me." And Joachim brought his gifts, and gazed intently at the plate, approaching the altar of the Lord, and saw no sin in himself. And Joachim said, "Now I know that the Lord had mercy on me and forgave me all my sins, and went out of the temple, justified, and went to his house." In the meantime, the months allotted to her had passed, and in the ninth month Anna gave birth, and asked the midwife, "Whom have I begotten?" She answered: a daughter. And Hannah said, My soul was lifted up this day, and laid down her daughter. As the days passed, Anna recovered, and gave the breast to the child, and named her Maria.

VI. The child grew stronger day by day, and when she was six months old, her mother set her on the ground to see if she could stand, and she walked seven paces back to her mother. The mother took her in her arms and said, "As the Lord my God lives, you will not walk on this earth until I bring you into the temple of the Lord." And they made a special place in the daughter's bedchamber, and it was forbidden to bring in any unclean thing, and she called (Hannah) the blameless daughters of Judah to take care of her. When the girl was one year old, Jehoiakim made a great feast and called together the priests, scribes and elders, and all the people of Israel. And he brought his daughter to the priests, and they blessed her, saying, "God of our fathers, bless this child, and give a glorious name in all generations." And the people said, "So be it! And then he brought her before the chief priests, 6 and they blessed her, saying, "Most High God, condescend to this child and give a supreme and everlasting blessing."

And her mother took her to a clean (holy) place in the bedroom and gave her breasts. And Anna sang a song to the Lord, saying, "I will sing a song to the Lord,166 for he has come down to me, and has delivered me from the reproach of my enemies, and has given me the fruit of his justice, the only one that has so much before his eyes."167 Who will tell the sons of Reuben that Hannah is breastfeeding? Listen, listen, twelve tribes of Israel, Hannah is breastfeeding! When the feast was over, the guests departed, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel.

VII. Months after months passed, and the child was two years old. And Joachim said: Let us take her to the temple of the Lord, in order to fulfill the promised dinner, so that the Lord will not suddenly reject us and our gift will not become displeasing to Him. And Anna said, "Let us wait until her third year, so that the child will not look for a father or mother." And Joachim said: Let us wait. And when the child was three years old, Jehoiakim said, "Call the blameless daughters of Judah, and let them take lamps and stand with lighted lamps, so that the child may not turn back, and that she may love the temple of the Lord in her heart." And they did so on the way to the temple of the Lord. And the priest received it, and kissed it, and gave it a blessing, saying, The Lord will magnify thy name in all generations, for through thee the Lord shall make redemption to the children of Israel in the last days. And he seated her on the third step by the altar, and the grace of the Lord came upon her, and she jumped for joy, and all the people of Israel loved her.

VIII. And her parents went away, wondering, and praising the Lord that their daughter had not turned back. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord like a dove, and received food from the hand of an angel. When she was twelve years old, the priests began to consult, saying: "Behold, Mary is twelve years old in the temple of God, what shall we do with her, so that she does not in any way defile the holy things?" And they said to the high priest, "You are standing at the altar of the Lord, come in and pray for her, and whatever the Lord declares to you, that we will do." And the high priest, putting on the dodecacodon,[168] entered into the Holy of Holies, and prayed for her, and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared and said, "Zechariah, Zechariah, go and call together the widowers of the people, and let them bring staves, and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, to him shall she become a wife." And messengers went through the round country of Judah, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and they all came together.

IX. Joseph, having left the axe, also came to the place where they were assembled. And having gathered themselves, they went to the high priest, carrying staffs. And he, having gathered up his staffs, entered the sanctuary and began to pray. After praying, he took his staffs, went out, and gave each of them his staff, but there was no sign on them. Joseph was the last to take the staff, and then the dove flew out of the staff and flew up to Joseph's glory. And the priest said to Joseph, Thou hast been chosen to receive unto thee, and to keep the virgin of the Lord. But Joseph objected, saying, "I already have sons, and I am old, and she is young, I do not want to be a laughing stock among the children of Israel." And the priest said to Joseph, "Fear God, remember how God punished Datan, Abyron, and Korah,[169] how the earth opened up and they were swallowed up for their disobedience. And Joseph was afraid, and took Mary to keep her. And Joseph said to Mary, "I have taken you out of the temple of the Lord, and now you remain in my house, while I go away to do carpentry, and then I will return to you (when the Lord wills): God preserve you!

X. Then there was a conference with the priests, who said, Let us make a veil for the temple of the Lord. And the high priest said, Gather together the pure virgins of the family of David. And the servants went and searched, and found the seven virgins. And the high priest remembered the young Mary, who was of the line of David and was pure before God. And the servants went and brought her. And they brought the virgins into the temple of the Lord. And the high priest said, "Cast lots for whom: gold, and amiant,170 and linen, and silk, and hyacinth, and crimson, and true purple." And the real purple and scarlet fell out to Mary, and she took them, and returned to her house. At this time, Zechariah was mute, replaced by Samuel (until Zechariah began to speak again). And Mary, taking the scarlet, began to spin.

XI. And she took the pitcher, and went to fetch water; and she heard a voice announcing: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you; blessed art thou among women[171]. And she looked around to see where the voice came from. And being afraid, she returned home, and set down the pitcher, and took the purple, and began to spin it. And then an angel of the Lord stood before her and said: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God, and you will conceive according to His word." And when she heard it, she pondered, saying to herself, "Shall I conceive of the living God, and give birth as any woman gives birth?" And the angel said, "Not so, Mary, but the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, wherefore the Holy One that thou hast begotten shall be called the son of the Most High." And thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people. And Mary said, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to thy word.

XII. And when she had finished spinning the crimson and the purple, she took it to the high priest. The high priest blessed her and said, "God has magnified your name, and you will be blessed in all the nations of the earth." Rejoicing, Mary went to her relative Elizabeth. And she knocked at the door, and when Elizabeth heard it, she ceased to spin the scarlet, and ran to the door, and when she opened it, she saw Mary, and blessed her, saying:

why is this (given) to me, that the mother of my Lord has come to me [172]. For the babe in me has leaped and blessed you. But Mary did not comprehend the mysteries that the Archangel Gabriel had revealed to her, and lifted up her eyes to heaven and said, "Who am I, Lord, that all the nations of the earth bless me?" And she lived with Elizabeth for three months [173]. Meanwhile, her womb grew larger day by day, and Mary returned to her house in fear and hid herself from the children of Israel. She was sixteen years old [174] when these sacraments were performed.

XIII. It was now the sixth month (of her pregnancy), when Joseph returned from his carpentry, and went into the house and saw her pregnant. And he smote his face, and fell on his face, and wept bitterly, saying, How shall I now turn to the Lord my God, how shall I pray for this virgin, for I have brought her out of the temple as a virgin, and have not been able to keep her? Who deceived me? Who has done evil to my house, and profaned the virgin? Did not the same thing happen to me as to Adam? As when Adam glorified (the Lord), the serpent appeared, and saw Eve alone, and deceived her, so it happened to me. And Joseph arose, and called Mary, and said,

You, who were in the care of God, what then did you do and forget the Lord your God? Why did you defile your soul, you who grew up in the Holy of Holies and received food from an angel? Then she wept bitterly and said, "I am pure and do not know my husband." And Joseph said to her, Whence then is the fruit in thy womb? She answered: As the Lord my God lives, I do not know from where.

XIV. And Joseph was frightened, and was comforted by her, and began to consider what to do with her. And Joseph said: