Luke 1:46-55
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Canticle of Mary. 46 (A)And Mary said:[a]
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;(B)
47 my spirit rejoices in God my savior.(C)
48 For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.(D)
49 The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.(E)
50 His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.(F)
51 He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.(G)
52 He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.(H)
53 The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.(I)
54 He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,(J)
55 according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”(K)
Footnotes
- 1:46–55 Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker.
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