Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This line is a prophetic citation used in the Christian New Testament to interpret Jesus’ birth. It appears in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the infancy narrative: after Joseph learns of Mary’s pregnancy, an angel reassures him in a dream that the child is conceived “of the Holy Ghost,” and Matthew adds that this happened to “fulfil” what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. The wording echoes Isaiah’s sign to King Ahaz (Isaiah 7:14) in a crisis involving Judah’s political and military fears, but Matthew applies the text typologically to Jesus, glossing “Immanuel” as “God with us.”

In Matthew’s framing, the quotation functions as a theological claim about identity rather than merely a prediction: the child’s birth signifies divine presence among the people (“Immanuel”). The emphasis on a virgin conceiving underscores the extraordinary, God-initiated character of the event and supports Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus as the culmination of Israel’s Scriptures. Read against Isaiah’s original setting, the “sign” language also conveys reassurance in a moment of fear—transposed in Matthew into reassurance about God’s saving action. The quote has become central to Christian doctrines of the virginal conception and the incarnation, and to liturgical readings in Advent and Christmas.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” (Matthew 1:23, KJV)
“Look, the virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.” (Matthew 1:23, NLT)
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Matthew 1:23, ESV)