While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

But he said to them, "Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds?

He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.

But the LORD told him, "Peace. Don't be afraid. You will not die."

Then he said, "Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.

The angel spoke to the women. "You must not be afraid," he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here---he has been raised! Look, here is the place where he was placed.

Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.

So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, "I asked the LORD for him."

But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the LORD, where he will stay all his life."

I praise you, LORD, because you heard me, because you have given me victory.

and said: 'Cornelius! God has heard your prayer and has taken notice of your works of charity.

You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

The LORD's angel appeared to her and said, "You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son.

and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines."

The LORD did bless Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up in the service of the LORD.

and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!"

But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.

He honors the childless wife in her home; he makes her happy by giving her children. Praise the LORD!

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a real blessing.

Happy is the man who has many such arrows. He will never be defeated when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.

But his mother said, "No! His name is to be John."

Then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.

A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

But God said, "No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting covenant.

Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the LORD said to me, "Name him 'Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.'

the LORD said to Hosea, "Name him 'Jezreel,' because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty.

Gomer had a second child---this time it was a daughter. The LORD said to Hosea, "Name her 'Unloved,' because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

The LORD said to Hosea, "Name him 'Not-My-People,' because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God."

The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, "You are not my people," but the day is coming when he will say to them, "You are the children of the living God!"

She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus---because he will save his people from their sins."