The Christmas season is a time for reflection, joy, and celebration. It’s also a time of patience, yearning, and expectation. As we wait for Jesus to enter the world — and then rejoice in peace and exultation when he inevitably does — it gives us an opportunity to enter into the Bible story and experience it for ourselves. We re-experience the long, hopeful, sometimes desperate wait that God’s people had to endure before Christ was finally, blessedly born to us on that night in Bethlehem.
As you enter into this time of waiting and celebration, here are Bible verses you can read, study, and reflect on — whether quietly to yourself or together as a family. These verses will take you through some of the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus’s birth, into the story of the Gospels, and then to later reflections by Paul and other apostles — so you can experience the full journey of God’s people across the centuries described in our Scriptures.
(Note: We’ve presented these passages in various Bible versions to shine a light on the variety of translation styles available to us. Click into each verse to read them in your preferred version.)
Old Testament Prophecies of the Birth of Jesus
The expectation of Jesus’s birth and arrival is threaded throughout the Old Testament. Here are a few of those passages.
I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. — Numbers 24:17 (NKJV)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel. — Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
— Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” — Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NRSVUE)
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
— Micah 5:2-3 (ESV)
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. — Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
The Birth of Jesus Christ in the Gospels
The first two chapters of the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, all have to do with the origins of Jesus from different perspectives. (The gospel of Mark begins later, with John the Baptist’s proclamation and Jesus’s baptism.) Here are a few selections from them.
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. — Matthew 1:18 (NLT) (Read the whole chapter.)
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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 conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” — Luke 1:26-33 (NIV) (Read the whole chapter.)
Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. — Luke 2:4-7 (CSB) (Read the whole chapter.)
And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
— John 1:14 (NABRE) (Read the whole passage.)
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior. — John 3:16-17 (GNT)
Reflections on the Coming of Christ in the Epistles
How did the the earliest Christians interpret the Incarnation? Here are a few passages from Paul’s letters, and one from John’s, that tell us what God taking on a human body meant to them — and what it means for us.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. — Galatians 4:4-5 (NRSVUE)
Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
But he emptied himself
by taking the form of a slave
and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
— Philippians 2:5-8 (CEB)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. — Colossians 1:15-17 (NKJV)
By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him. — 1 John 4:9 (NET)
Merry Christmas from Bible Gateway!
As you celebrate the birth of our Lord this month in whatever way is most meaningful to you, we hope you will take some time to reflect on these passages. How can we welcome Christ into the world — and into our hearts — this Christmas season?
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