Luke 2:1-19

Lexham English Bible

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar^[a] Augustus to register all the empire. ² (This first registration took place when^[b] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to be registered, each one to his own town. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, ⁵ to be registered together with Mary, who was legally promised in marriage to him and^[c] was pregnant. ⁶ And it happened that while they were there, the time came^[d] for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.^{[e] 10} And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people: ¹¹ that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. ¹² And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,

¹⁵ And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say^[g] to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!” ¹⁶ And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ And when they^[h] saw it,^[i] they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it^[j] were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering them^[k] in her heart.