Luke 2
EasyEnglish Bible
Jesus is born
2 At that time, Caesar Augustus made a law. He told his men to count everyone who lived in the countries that he ruled.[a] 2 This was the first time that the Romans had made a list of everyone's names. Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria when it happened.
3 Everyone went to his own home town for the Romans to count them. 4 So Joseph went to his home town, Bethlehem. He was living in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee. Bethlehem was in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.
5 Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She was pregnant.
6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths around him. Then she put him in an animal's food box. She did this because the rooms for visitors were full of people.[b]
Some shepherds leave their sheep to go and see Jesus
8 That night some shepherds were living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe. 9 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all around them. That frightened them very much. 10 The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy. 11 Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. He is the one who will save you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. 12 I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths around him. He is lying in an animal's food box.’
13 At that moment, a great crowd of angels appeared. They were praising God. They said:
14 ‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above.
He will bless the people on earth who please him.
They will have peace in their minds.’
15 After that, the angels went away and returned to heaven. Then the shepherds said to each other, ‘We should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord God has sent his angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’
16 So they went quickly to Bethlehem. When they got there, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a food box. 17 After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them about him. 18 Many people heard what the shepherds said. They were very surprised. 19 Mary remembered everything that the shepherds had said. She thought about it all for a long time. 20 The shepherds then went back to their sheep. As they went they praised God. ‘How great you are!’ they said to him. ‘How good you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’
Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple
21 When the baby was eight days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents gave him the name ‘Jesus’. The angel had told Mary that they must give him that name. He told her that before she had the baby inside her.
22 Long ago, God gave Moses rules for his people to obey. One rule told people how to become clean after a baby was born. The time came for Mary and Joseph to do this. So they took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to show him to the Lord.
23 This is the rule which the Lord gave to his people: ‘The first male baby born to a woman belongs to me. So you must bring him to me. 24 When you do this, also bring two special birds for the priest to kill.’ So that is what Mary and Joseph did.[c]
25 At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was a good man and he obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person who would save Israel's people. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26 The Holy Spirit had told him, ‘You will not die yet. You know that the Lord God has promised to send his Messiah. You will see him before you die.’ 27 Now the day had come. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he should go to the temple. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to do what God's rule said. 28 Simeon went to them. He took Jesus and he held him in his arms. Then he thanked God. He said:
29 ‘Master, I am your servant.
You have done what you promised to me.
Now I can die with no trouble in my mind.
30 I really have seen the person that you have sent to save your people.
31 You have sent him to the world and people everywhere will know about him.
32 He will bring light to people so that they can know you.
He will show you to those people who are not Jews.
He will also show that your people of Israel are very special.’
33 That is what Simeon said about Jesus. His message surprised Mary and Joseph very much.
34 Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said to her, ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in Israel will become worse because of him. And many of them will become better again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. But many people will speak against him. 35 This will show their secret thoughts about God. This will make you very sad, too. It will seem like a sharp knife is cutting into you. That is how sad you will be’.
36 A very old woman called Anna was also there in the temple. She spoke messages that the Holy Spirit gave to her. She was the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher.[d] She had lived with her husband for seven years and then he had died.
37 After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the temple. She stayed there day and night to worship God. She fasted and she prayed.
38 At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing in the temple. When she saw the baby, she thanked God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people there. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem free. These were the people that she spoke to about the child, Jesus.
39 When Mary and Joseph had done everything that God's rules said, they returned home. That was in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up. God was good and kind to him and he became strong. He learned many things and he could understand them well.
Jesus visits the temple as a young boy
41 Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.[e]
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. 43 When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. 44 They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.
45 They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. 46 After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. 48 When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’
49 Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. You should have known that.’ 50 But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. 52 Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.
Footnotes
- 2:1 ‘Caesar’ was the most important Roman ruler. He lived in Rome, the capital city. Many countries in the world came under Rome's authority.
- 2:7 The many people that had come to Bethlehem filled the rooms for visitors.
- 2:24 The Jews had to obey this rule 40 days after a boy was born. The mother had to go to the temple. If she was poor, she gave two special birds to God. See Leviticus 12:2-8.
- 2:36 Asher was one of the sons of Jacob. We can read about the 12 sons of Jacob in Genesis 35:23-26. They were the ancestors of Israel's 12 tribes.
- 2:41 Passover week is a very special time for the Jews. A long time ago, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. God rescued them from there. Every year, the Jews remember this. We can read about the first Passover in Exodus 12.
Luke 2
Expanded Bible
The Birth of Jesus
2 At that time, Augustus Caesar sent an ·order [decree] that all people in the ·countries under Roman rule [empire; Roman world] must ·list their names in a register [register for taxation]. 2 ·This was the first registration; it was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria [or This was the first census while Quirinius was governor of Syria; or This census occurred before Quirinius was governor of Syria]. 3 And all went to their own towns to be registered.
4 So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and went to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, known as the town of David [C Bethlehem was David’s hometown]. Joseph went there because he was from the ·family [L house and family line] of David. 5 Joseph registered with Mary, to whom he was ·engaged [pledged to be married; see 1:27] and who was now pregnant. 6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, 7 and she gave birth to her first son. She wrapped the baby ·with pieces of cloth [in cloths; T in swaddling clothes] and laid him in a ·feeding trough [T manger], because there ·were no rooms [was no space/room] left in the ·inn [or guest room (of a private residence); or caravan shelter].
Shepherds Hear About Jesus
8 ·That night [L At night], some shepherds were [living out] in the fields ·nearby [L in that region/place] watching their ·sheep [L flock]. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord ·was shining around [surrounded] them, and they became very frightened. 10 The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. [L …for/because] I am bringing you good news that will ·be a [or bring] great joy to all the people. 11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is ·Christ [the Messiah], the Lord. 12 This ·is how you will know him [will be the sign for you]: You will find a baby wrapped in ·pieces of cloth [cloths; T swaddling clothes] and lying in a ·feeding trough [T manger].”
13 ·Then [L And suddenly] a ·very large group [or great army] of angels from heaven ·joined [appeared with] the first angel, praising God and saying:
14 “Give glory to God in ·heaven [the highest place/heaven],
and on earth let there be peace among the people ·who please God [or he favors; L of his pleasure/approval].”[a]
15 When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So the shepherds went quickly and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a ·feeding trough [T manger]. 17 When they had seen him, they ·told [spread the word about; let people know] what the angels had said about this child. 18 Everyone [L who heard] ·was amazed [wondered; marveled] at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary ·treasured [kept; preserved] these things and ·continued to think about them [L pondered/considered them in her heart]. 20 Then the shepherds went back to their sheep, ·praising [glorifying] God and ·thanking [praising] him for everything they had seen and heard. It had been just as the angel had told them.
21 When ·the baby was eight days old [L eight days were fulfilled; Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3], he was circumcised [1:59] and was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before ·the baby began to grow inside Mary [L he was conceived in the womb].
Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
22 When the ·time came [L days were fulfilled] for ·Mary and Joseph to do what the law of Moses taught about being made pure [L their purification according the law of Moses; C an animal sacrifice and ritual cleansing forty days after the birth of a son; see Lev. 12:2–8], they took Jesus [L up] to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 ([L Just as] It is written in the law of the Lord: “Every ·firstborn male [L male who opens the womb; C an idiom for a firstborn] shall be ·given [set apart; consecrated; L called holy] to the Lord” [Ex. 13:2].) 24 Mary and Joseph also went to offer a sacrifice, as the law of the Lord says: “You must sacrifice two ·doves [or turtledoves] or two young pigeons [Lev. 5:11; 12:8].”
Simeon Sees Jesus
25 [Now; L And behold] In Jerusalem ·lived [L was] a man named Simeon who was ·a good man [righteous; just] and ·godly [devout; reverent]. He was waiting for the ·time when God would take away Israel’s sorrow [restoration/consolation of Israel; Is. 40:1] and the Holy Spirit was ·in [or upon] him. 26 ·Simeon had been told [L It had been revealed to him] by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he saw ·the Christ promised by the Lord [L the Lord’s Messiah/Anointed One]. 27 The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple. When ·Mary and Joseph [L the parents] brought the ·baby [child] Jesus to the Temple to do [L for him] what ·the law said they must do [the custom of the law required], 28 Simeon took the baby in his arms and ·thanked [praised; blessed] God:
29 “Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant,
·die [L depart; be dismissed] in peace ·as you said [L according to your word].
30 With my own eyes I have seen your salvation [Is. 52:10],
31 which you prepared ·before [in the presence of] all ·people [nations; people groups].
32 It is a light ·for the Gentiles to see [L of revelation for the Gentiles/nations; Is. 42:6; 49:6]
and ·an honor [the glory] for your people, ·the Israelites [L Israel].”
33 Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what Simeon had said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to ·Mary [L his mother], “·God has chosen this child [L Look/T Behold, this one is destined/appointed] to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel. ·He will be a sign from God that many people will not accept [L …and to be a sign that is spoken against] 35 so that the thoughts of many [L hearts] will be made known. And ·the things that will happen will make your heart sad, too [L a sword will pierce your own soul; C Mary will experience deep sorrow over the death of Jesus].”
Anna Sees Jesus
36 There was a prophetess, ·Anna, [L Hannah] ·from the family [L the daughter] of Phanuel ·in [who was from] the tribe of Asher. She was very old and had once been married for seven years. 37 Then her husband died, and she was a widow ·for [or to the age of] eighty-four years. She never left the Temple but worshiped God, ·going without food [fasting] and praying day and night. 38 ·Standing there [or Coming up to them] at that time, she ·thanked [praised; blessed] God and spoke about ·Jesus [L him] to all who were waiting for ·God to free [L the redemption/deliverance of] Jerusalem.
Joseph and Mary Return Home
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything the law of the Lord commanded, they went home to Nazareth, their own town in Galilee [Matt. 2:22–23]. 40 The little child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s ·goodness [favor; grace] was upon him.
Jesus as a Boy
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover ·Feast [festival; C annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12]. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went to the ·feast [festival] ·as they always did [or according to Jewish custom]. 43 After the feast days were over, they started home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Thinking that Jesus was with them in the group, they traveled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him there. 46 After three days [C probably three days since they left Jerusalem—one out, one back, and one searching] they found Jesus sitting in the Temple ·with [among; in the middle of] the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and answers. 48 When Jesus’ parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “·Son [Child], why ·did you do this to us [have you treated us this way]? [L Look; T Behold] Your father and I were ·very worried [distressed; in pain] about you and have been looking for you.”
49 Jesus said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be ·in my Father’s house [or about my Father’s business]?” 50 But they did not understand the meaning of what he said.
51 Jesus went with them to Nazareth and ·was obedient to them [lived under their authority]. But his mother ·kept in her mind all that had happened [L kept/treasured all these things/words in her heart]. 52 Jesus ·became wiser and grew physically [grew in wisdom and stature/height]. ·People liked him, and he pleased God […and in favor with God and people; 1 Sam. 2:26].
Footnotes
- Luke 2:14 and … God Some Greek copies read “and on earth let there be peace and goodwill among people.”
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