Oure Ladi, whanne she herde þis greting, was troublid in þis word, and þouȝte, as a wise maiden, what manere shulde be þis greting. Þis troublinge in þis gretinge puttiþ no synne or blame in Marie, siþ Crist seiþ þat his soule is troublid, bifore his deþ. And þis angel seide to hir, Drede þe not, Marie, for þou hast foundun grace bifore þe Lord of alle Lordis. And here þis aungel, for confort, clepide Marie bi hir propre name, to telle þat he knewe hir wel, and eke þe Lord þat sente him. For whoever haþ founden grace of a lord is loved of him. Lo, þou shalt conseyve in wombe, and þou shalt bere a sone, and þou shalt clepe his name Jesus. And he þis ['He this' is the reading in this place of a single MS. (Bodl. 277) of the later Wycliffite version.] shal be greet, and he shal be clepid þe sone of þe hiȝeste Lord; and þe Lord God shal ȝeve him Daviþis seete, þe which Daviþ is his fadir; and he shal rengne in Jacobis [Jacobs, E.] hous wiþouten ende [So in E; om. A.] and of his rewme shal be noon ende. Bi þis mai men undirstonden þat Crist was king, as Daviþ was, but more spirituali, as his kyngdom was more spiritual. For ech worldli lordship mote nedis have an ende; and þus rengn|yng wiþouten eende in þe hous of Jacob, and þat of his rewme shal be noon eende, tellen how Crist rengneþ spirituali, and not contrarie to worldli lordis.
And Marie seide to þis angel, On what manere shal þis be, for I knowe no man fleishli? And þis angel answering seide to hir, Þe Hooli Goost shal come above in þee, and þe vertue of alþer hiȝeste Lord shal make umbre unto þee. Þe vertue of God makiþ umbre, whanne in a lowe place it lettiþ heete [þe hete, E.] of synne, as it fel in oure Ladi; for she was lower in kinde þan aungels, and she conseyvede wiþouten synne. And þerfore þat holi þing þat shal be born of þee shal be clepid Goddis Sone, singulerli bifore oþer. And lo, Eliȝabeth þi cosyn, and she haþ conseyved a sone in hir elde; and þis moneþ is þe sixte to him þat is clepid bareyne [to him that is clepid bareyne. Both A and E concur in this reading, and the expression a few lines be|low, 'Zacharie in reprefe was clepid bareyne,' leaves no doubt that it is correct. But it is not easy to understand why the writer adopted this most erroneous version of the original, or where he found any countenance for it. The very nu|merous MSS. of the two Wycliffite versions all read 'hir,' and the ren|dering of the Vulgate is 'illi quae vocatur sterilis.' Did the writer inadvertently read 'qui' for 'quae?'] .
