[A]nd he prayed concerning her, and behold, an angel of
the Lord stood
by him saying, ‘Zechariah! Zechariah! Go out and
assemble the
widowers of the people and let them bring each his rod,
and to
whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall
she be. . . . And
Joseph [was chosen]. . . . And the priest said to
Joseph, ‘You have been
chosen by lot to take into your keeping the Virgin of
the Lord.’ But Joseph
refused, saying, ‘I have children, and I am an old man,
and she is a
young girl’" (8–9).
"And Annas the
scribe came to him [Joseph] . . . and saw that Mary was
with child. And he ran away to the priest and said to
him, ‘Joseph, whom
you did vouch for, has committed a grievous crime.’ And
the priest said,
‘How so?’ And he said, ‘He has defiled the virgin whom
he received out
of the temple of the Lord and has married her by
stealth’" (5).
"And the priest said, ‘Mary,
why have you done this? And why have you
brought your soul low and forgotten the Lord your God?’
. . . And she wept
bitterly saying, ‘As the Lord my God lives, I am pure
before him, and know
not man’" (5).