Luke 2:1-40

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. ²These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. ⁴So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.

    ⁵Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, ⁶and while they were there, ⁷she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds

 ⁸That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. ⁹All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. ¹⁰But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. ¹¹This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. ¹²You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."

    ¹³Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:

    ¹⁴"Praise God in heaven!

   Peace on earth to everyone

   who pleases God."

    ¹⁵After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." ¹⁶They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.

    ¹⁷When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. ¹⁸Everyone listened and was surprised. ¹⁹But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.

    ²⁰As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.

    ²¹Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands. And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby.

Simeon Praises the Lord

 ²²The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born. They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord, ²³just as the Law of the Lord says, "Each first-born baby boy belongs to the Lord." ²⁴The Law of the Lord also says that parents have to offer a sacrifice, giving at least a pair of doves or two young pigeons. So that is what Mary and Joseph did. ²⁵At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for God to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him ²⁶and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord.

    ²⁷When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. ²⁸Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God,

    ²⁹"Lord, I am your servant,

   and now I can die in peace,

   because you have kept

   your promise to me.

    ³⁰With my own eyes I have seen

   what you have done

   to save your people,

    ³¹and foreign nations

   will also see this.

    ³²Your mighty power is a light

   for all nations,

   and it will bring honor

   to your people Israel."

    ³³Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said. ³⁴Then he blessed them and told Mary, "This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, ³⁵and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking."

   

Anna Speaks about the Child Jesus

 ³⁶The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died. ³⁷And now she was eighty-four years old. Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating. ³⁸At that time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.

   

The Return to Nazareth

 ³⁹After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.