The Allotment for Judah

1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward ^hto the boundary of Edom, to ⁱthe wilderness of Zin at the farthest south. 2 And their south boundary ran from the end of the ^hSalt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. 3 It goes out southward of ^jthe ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka, 4 passes along to Azmon, goes out by ^kthe Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary. 5 And the east boundary is the ^hSalt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. 6 And the boundary goes up to ^lBeth-hoglah and passes along north of ^mBeth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to ⁿthe stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7 And the boundary goes up to Debir from ^othe Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite ^pthe ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of ^pEn-shemesh and ends at ^qEn-rogel. 8 Then the boundary goes up by ^rthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (^sthat is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley ^tof Rephaim. 9 Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain ^uto the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah (^vthat is, Kiriath-jearim). 10 And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to ^wBeth-shemesh and passes along by ^xTimnah. 11 The boundary goes out ^yto the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount ^zBaalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. 12 And the west boundary was ^athe Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans.

13 According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, ^bKiriath-arba, that is, ^bHebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, ^cSheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. ^dNow the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 ^eAnd Othniel the son of Kenaz, ^fthe brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 19 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans. 21 The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, ^gEder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 ^hZiph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual, ⁱBeersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 ^jZiklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities with their villages.

33 And in the lowland, ^kEshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 ^lJarmuth, ^mAdullam, ⁿSocoh, ⁿAzekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages.

37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39 ^oLachish, Bozkath, ^pEglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and ^qMakkedah: sixteen cities with their villages.

42 ^rLibnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 ^sKeilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.

45 ^tEkron, with its towns and its villages; 46 from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages.

47 ^tAshdod, its towns and its villages; ^tGaza, its towns and its villages; to ^uthe Brook of Egypt, and ^vthe Great Sea with its coastline.

48 And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (^wthat is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 ^xGoshen, Holon, and ^yGiloh: eleven cities with their villages.

52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, ^zKiriath-arba (that is, ^zHebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages.

55 ^aMaon, ^aCarmel, ^bZiph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and ^cTimnah: ten cities with their villages.

58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages.

60 ^dKiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.

61 In the wilderness, ^eBeth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and ^fEngedi: six cities with their villages.

63 But the ^gJebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^hthe people of Judah could not drive out, ^hso the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1 In those days ^la decree went out from ^mCaesar Augustus that all the world should be ⁿregistered. 2 This was the first ⁿregistration when¹ Quirinius ^owas governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up ^pfrom Galilee, from the town of ^qNazareth, to Judea, to ^rthe city of David, which is called ^sBethlehem, ^tbecause he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,² who was with child. 6 And ^twhile they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^uwrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^vlaid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^wthe inn.³

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord ^xappeared to them, and ^ythe glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^zthe people. 11 For ^aunto you is born this day in ^bthe city of David ^ca Savior, who is ^dChrist ^ethe Lord. 12 And ^fthis will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^gwrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel ^ha multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^mlying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But ⁿMary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, ^oglorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And ^pat the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, ^qhe was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And ^rwhen the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem ^sto present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^u“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in ^tthe Law of the Lord, ^v“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was ^wrighteous and ^xdevout, ^ywaiting for ^zthe consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^asee death before he had seen ^bthe Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when ^cthe parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and ^dblessed God and said,

33 And ^mhis father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed ⁿfor the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign ^othat is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was ^pa prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.⁶ She did not depart from the temple, ^qworshiping with ^rfasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were ^swaiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

39 And when they had performed everything according to ^tthe Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of ^uNazareth. 40 ^vAnd the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.