2 Around the time of Elizabeth’s amazing pregnancy and John’s birth, the emperor in Rome, Caesar Augustus, required everyone in the Roman Empire to participate in a massive census— ² the first census since Quirinius had become governor of Syria. ³ Each person had to go to his or her ancestral city to be counted.

^4-5 Mary’s fiancé Joseph, from Nazareth in Galilee, had to participate in the census in the same way everyone else did. Because he was a descendant of King David, his ancestral city was Bethlehem, David’s birthplace. Mary, who was now late in her pregnancy that the messenger Gabriel had predicted, ⁶ accompanied Joseph. While in Bethlehem, she went into labor ⁷ and gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped the baby in a blanket and laid Him in a feeding trough because the inn had no room for them.

⁸ Nearby, in the fields outside of Bethlehem, a group of shepherds were guarding their flocks from predators in the darkness of night. ⁹ Suddenly a messenger of the Lord stood in front of them, and the darkness was replaced by a glorious light—the shining light of God’s glory. They were terrified!

¹³ At that moment, the first heavenly messenger was joined by thousands of other messengers—a vast heavenly choir. They praised God.

¹⁵ As soon as the heavenly messengers disappeared into heaven, the shepherds were buzzing with conversation.

¹⁶ So they ran into town, and eventually they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the feeding trough. After they saw the baby, ¹⁷ they spread the story of what they had experienced and what had been said to them about this child. ¹⁸ Everyone who heard their story couldn’t stop thinking about its meaning. ¹⁹ Mary, too, pondered all of these events, treasuring each memory in her heart.

²⁰ The shepherds returned to their flocks, praising God for all they had seen and heard, and they glorified God for the way the experience had unfolded just as the heavenly messenger had predicted.