The Story of the Birth of Jesus
(Luke 1:26-56) ...God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town
in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named
Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The
angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly
favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his
words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the
angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor
with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you
are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the
throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be
born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative
is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to
be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with
God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me
as you have said." Then the angel left her.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill
country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped
in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a
loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of
your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her
will be accomplished!"
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices
in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of
his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for
the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his
name.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then
returned home.
(Matthew 1:18-25)...Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but
before they came together, she was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man
and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind
to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of
David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because
what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give
birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins." All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will
call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had
commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union
with her until she gave birth to a son...
(Luke 2:1-35) In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a
census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the
first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of
Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who
was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a
child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and
she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring
you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ
the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped
in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they
hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying
in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who
heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her
heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had
been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was
named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been
conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses
had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord,
"Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), and to
offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the
Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous
and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy
Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the
parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom
of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God,
saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss
your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people
Israel."
The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child
is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and
to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of
many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own
soul too."
(Matthew 2:1-23) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to
Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of
the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship
him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all
Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people's chief priests and
teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be
born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the
prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you
will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people
Israel.'"
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the
exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and
said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you
find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship
him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the
star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped
over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they
were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,
and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and
of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to
Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going
to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child
and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he
stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the
Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my
son."
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was
furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and
its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with
the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through
the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and
refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take
the child's life are dead." So he got up, took the child and his
mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that
Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he
was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew
to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called
Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He
will be called a Nazarene."
(Luke 2:40) And the child grew and became strong; he was filled
with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
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