Birth and Infancy of Jesus

The Birth of Jesus

(Mt 2:1a; Lk 2:1-7)

^2:1At that time Caesar Augustus sent out a decree to take a census of the Roman Empire. ²That was the first census, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³Everybody went to his ancestral city to register. ⁴Joseph went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judaea, to Bethlehem, the city of David, because he descended from David. ⁵He went up to register with Mary, who was engaged to him and pregnant. ⁶While they were there, it came time for her to have her baby, ⁷and she had her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in baby cloths and laid him in a manger because there wasn’t any room for them in the inn.

The Angels and the Shepherds

(Lk 2:8-20)

⁸Not far away, shepherds were watching sheep outdoors at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord stood beside them, and the glory of the Lord shined around them. It really scared them. ¹⁰The angel said, “You don’t need to be afraid; I have some good news for you that will make people really happy. ¹¹A Savior was born today in the city of David: Messiah the Lord. ¹²You’ll find a baby wrapped in baby cloths, lying in a manger.” ¹³Suddenly a great choir of angels in the sky joined the angel, praising God:

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men that please him.”

¹⁵When the angels had gone back to heaven, the shepherds said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord’s told us about.” ¹⁶They hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby that was lying in a manger. ¹⁷When they’d seen him, they told everybody what the angel said about him. ¹⁸They were amazed at what the shepherds were saying. ¹⁹Mary treasured these things up in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for everything they’d seen and heard, just like the angel said.

Jesus’ Circumcision, Naming, and Presentation in the Temple

(Lk 2:21-39)

²¹When the eight days had passed for circumcising him, they named him “Jesus,” as the angel had directed them before Mary became pregnant.

²²When the days were over for their purification according to the law of Moses, they went up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord—23as the law of the Lord says,

“SET ASIDE TO THE LORD EVERY FIRTBORN MALE”— [Ex 13:2, 12, 15, 24]

²⁴and to offer the sacrifice the law called for:

“A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS” [Lev 12:2].

²⁵A man in Jerusalem named Simeon, a good, devout man, was waiting for the liberation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was on him and ²⁶told him that he’d see the Lord’s Messiah before he died. ²⁷He came in the temple in the Spirit; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to custom, ²⁸he took him in his arms and blessed God:

29“Now, Master, your servant can leave the world

in peace as you said.

³⁰I’ve seen the salvation

³¹you prepared in front of all peoples,

³²a light for revelation to Gentiles

and for the glory of your people Israel.”

³³Joseph and Mary marveled at what he was saying. ³⁴Simeon blessed them, and told Mary, “This child stands for the rise and fall of many in Israel and for a sign spoken against—³⁵a sword will pierce your heart too—that many people’s thoughts may be revealed.”

³⁶There was also Hannah, a prophetess, daughter of Penuel from the tribe of Asher. She was quite old; she’d lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, ³⁷and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She lived in the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer day and night. ³⁸She came up and thanked God, and talked about the child to everyone that was waiting for the liberation of Jerusalem.

³⁹When they finished everything according to the Law, they went back home.

The Visit of the Magi

(Mt 2:1-12; Lk 2:40)

2:1When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of Herod the king, Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, 2“Where’s the one born king of the Jews? In the East we saw his star and came to pay homage to him.” ³When Herod heard this, he was disturbed and Jerusalem as well. ⁴He gathered the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵They said, “In Bethlehem in Judaea. The prophet wrote,

⁶‘YOU, BETHLEHEM in Judah,

ARE by no means LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH.

A LEADER WILL COME OUT OF YOU

THAT WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL’” [Mic 5:2].

⁷Herod privately called the Magi to find out when the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem, “Look for the child carefully. When you find him, let me know so I can come and pay homage to him as well.”

⁹When they heard the king, they started traveling, and the star they saw when they were in the East went ahead of them till it stood over above the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹They went in the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, and fell down and paid homage to him. They opened their treasures and brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod; so they left for their country another way.

The Flight to Egypt; the Slaughter of the Infants

(Mt 2:13-18)

¹³When they’d gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, “Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother. Stay there till I tell you. Herod intends to look for the child to destroy him.” ¹⁴Joseph got up during the night and took them to Egypt. ¹⁵He stayed there till Herod died—in keeping with what the Lord said by the prophet,

“I’VE CALLED MY SON OUT OF EGYPT” [Hos 11:2].

¹⁶When Herod saw that the Magi had tricked him, he was enraged. He had all the male children killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding region—those two years and under as figured from the time he’d learned from the Magi. ¹⁷That fulfilled what Jeremiah the prophet said,

¹⁸“A SOUND WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,

WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,

RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN.

SHE WOULDN’T BE CONSOLED;

THEY WERE NO LONGER LIVING” [Jer 31:15].

The Return from Egypt and Settlement in Nazareth

(Mt 2:19-23; Lk 2:40)

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream in Egypt, 20“Get up and take the child and his mother to Israel. The ones that were trying to kill the child have died.” ²¹He got up and took them to Israel. When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judaea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. ²²When God warned him in a dream, he left for Galilee. ²³He settled down in a town called Nazareth, a name that reminds us of what the prophets said he’d be: a Nazarene [nezer, shoot].

⁴⁰The child grew and became strong and increased in wisdom, and God’s grace was on him.